


Something New

by evansscruff (chuckle123)



Series: Chris and Naina's Life [1]
Category: American Actor RPF, Chris Evans- Fandom, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, Cultural Differences, Cultural References, Desi Character, Drunken Shenanigans, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Height Differences, Indian Character, Interracial Relationship, Jealousy, Light Angst, Loss of Virginity, Meddling, Misunderstandings, Overprotectiveness, Romantic Friendship, Self Confidence Issues, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Wooing, helicopter parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-05-09 00:09:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 75,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5518184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chuckle123/pseuds/evansscruff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naina Prabhu, a new doctor fresh out of medical school, has just moved to Boston with her younger brother to complete her residency. She gets back in touch with her old college roommate Shanna Evans and her family, including the famous older brother Chris whom she has never met before, and they all turn her life on its head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The word “Akka,” in the Indian language of Konkani, means “elder/older sister”. “Desi” is a word that means “from the homeland” in reference to India.

The sounds of waves beating against the shore filled my ears, relaxing all the muscles in my body. Well, that was until the intercom on the plane buzzed, and a piercing voice started to speak. “Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the flight crew and pilots, I would like to welcome you to Boston, Massachusetts. Thank you with flying with us today.” I exhaled slowly and opened my eyes, saying a silent prayer of thanks to the gods while pushing my glasses onto my face and packing up my neck-pillow and sleep mask. Yes, I’m aware that I’m a nerd when it comes to sleeping and relaxation. But what to do? It’s a major and important part of my life, seeing as I always end up getting so little of it these days.

 

 I hate flying. Like really, really hate flying. The noise, the claustrophobia, the feeling of being trapped in what’s basically a human- created metal bird in the sky. Reaching over, I shook my brother Ananth awake, who jolted up as if he was on fire. I laughed, and unbuckled my seatbelt so I could reach to the overhead compartments to grab our bags. Except that didn’t actually happen due to my state as a vertical challenged woman. Laughing, my brother reached over and got the two bags out. I rolled my eyes and sighed.  

 

While laughing, Ananth managed to stutter out, “What, Naina Akka, you wanted me to wait the entire day for your measly 5’1 self to attempt to get the bags?”

 

I glared at him (apparently in the most non-intimidating manner as he still kept laughing). “Listen, I have the most embarrassing stories about you as blackmail, and if you keep making fun of my height, I swear to Krishna that I’ll make your social life a living hell.”

 

Rolling my eyes, I pushed past him, lugging one of the bags out of the aircraft and through the airport towards the luggage carousals.

 

Even though I hate flying, travelling was one of my biggest loves. And getting to settle in a new place for a while was probably the best thing about the job at that had taken me far away from my home. I couldn’t wait to discover the new places that Boston had to offer from some of the movies I had seen. The Boston Commons, the Freedom trail, Fanueil Hall, Fenway-

 

“Naina Akka, when will the luggage get here?” Gosh, even though he’s entering adulthood soon, my brother can be such a whiny baby. Ruining my daydreaming all the time.

 

“It’ll be here soon, just keep an eye out for-“

 

I jumped when my phone buzzed with a new text message, and obviously Ananth laughed at how I got so easily startled. Asshole. I reached into my purse that was a war-zone from all the random shit that I had shoved in there, and finally managed to reach the phone (conveniently at the bottom of the mess). I unlocked it, and saw the text message from Shanna, my old college roommate who kept me sane when I was a tired, sleep-deprived pre-med student.

 

I turned to Ananth. “Apparently Shanna is waiting outside waiting for us when we are done picking up our luggage. God, I can’t wait to just get out of the airport and see her again! It’s been forever since the party she threw for me after I got into my residency in DC.”

 

He nodded in acknowledgment while staring down at the luggage carousels for our bags, but I don’t think he was paying much attention. I could feel his nervousness about adjusting to his new elite college prep boarding school in Cambridge that my parents were sending him to so that he could get into the top Ivy league schools. Even though he wasn’t staying with me, I knew that as it goes in our big fat Indian family, as the older sister, I’m obligated to make delicious, pure _desi_ food for my little brother and deliver it to him every week religiously. Along with doing his laundry, cleaning his room, and other such things that apparently you need a vagina to do. Ugh, aren’t stereotypical gender roles great?

 

 Finally our bags arrived. I struggled to load them onto the luggage carrier, trying to prove a point to my younger brother that I indeed was not dependent on his ass to help me with my luggage. We made our way towards the front of the airport with our stuff and stepped out into the crisp (and slightly cold!) New England air. Hey, as a brown girl whose parents are from the hot and humid regions of South India, I feel cold even when it’s even slightly below 60 degrees Farenheit. Pulling out my emergency shawl to put around my neck I pull out my phone to send a text when suddenly this ball of energy came towards me and almost knocked me to the ground. Ananth managed to steady me, otherwise I would have been mowed down.

 

While hugging us and talking at a mile a minute, Shanna exclaimed, “Naina and Ananth, oh my gosh, it’s been forever since I’ve seen you both! Must have been at the party before you started your residency!  I’m so excited that you’ve come to Boston because I know you haven’t seen the city before. Come, come, let me help you with your bags!”

 

We pushed our luggage into the backseat, and we drove out of Logan Airport.

 

“So, Shanna, what’s going on with you? Still working in the art department at the school?” I said, eagerly trying drink up the sights that Boston has to offer.

 

“Everything’s pretty much the same since I last saw you at the party and we reminisced about the good old undergrad days where we would get wasted all the time-“

 

“Hey, hey, speak for yourself, I was the one pouring over my textbooks like a good student!” I said, feigning anger at one of my closest college friends.

 

“But you knew how to get down at all those parties that we went to! Jeez, your dancing skills brought all the boys to the yard…”

 

God, it felt so good to be talking to Shanna again. We met in freshman year of college when we were both in the same Intro to Art History class. Since Shanna was an education and art major, she was required to take that class, and she had the passion for it obviously. I, however, was not passionate about art at all. I knew close to nothing about Michalangelo and Carvaggio, besides what I managed to memorize for my European History class. We both sat in the front row, and after seeing my copious note-taking in order to even stay afloat in that class, she took me under her wing and somehow helped me pass that class after sleepless nights pouring over the differences between the Northern Renaissance and Italian Renaissance in art. In return, I helped her with her science classes that she was required to fulfil specific credits. We ended up becoming very close, with your similar interests in dancing, music, movies- things I indulged in for fun and enjoyment that Shanna ended up integrating more into her life with her career as an art teacher.

 

Shanna jolted me out of my reminiscing with a loud honk, exclaiming something about crazy Boston drivers. I laughed and realized this was going to become my new home in a while once I started working again with my residency. I looked behind me to see how Ananth was doing, and he was fast asleep, completely knocked out even after sleeping on the entire flight to Boston. Anyway, we somehow reached my new apartment in one piece.

 

I met my landlord, who turned out to be a nice older lady who said that the moving people would come in with the new furniture sometime the next day, so there was a limited amount of settling in I could do. Shanna helped me with my unpacking, and we talked some more about how Shanna’s parents, Lisa and Robert, were doing along with Carly and Shanna.

 

“Remember that first time I came home with you for some long weekend that we used to get holidays for? It became a thing for me to come with you for Columbus Day weekend.” I asked Shanna while unfolding some blouses and my uber-comfortable pajamas and placing them on the small shelves in the closet- at least until the dresser comes in.

 

“Oh yeah, it was right after your aunt moved out of Grafton back to Raleigh in North Carolina. You looked pretty down about them not being close by anymore, so I thought that the trips would do you some good.”

 

“I just remember your father somehow helping me with my organic chemistry problem set I had due that Tuesday afterwards when I was pouring over my big ass textbook at the crack of dawn on your dining room table."

 

“I mean, he's a dentist so he was the only one into your sciency shit, and you were fascinated with the dance studio in the basement too” Shanna was cracking up as she remembered the sheer look of joy on my face when I saw the well-furnished basement.

 

“Dude, I was so jelly that you had a space to dance in your house! And Scott and Carly insisted that I show them some Bollywood dance moves! Wonder if they still remember…” It had been such a long time since I had seen Scott Evans, but he was such a sweetheart, as was Carly.

 

“Well, you can ask him when you see him tonight- he’s back home for the long weekend! Carly will be arriving there too with her husband and kids later in the evening- I forgot you haven’t met them yet-”

 

“Wait, wait, what?” My eyes slowly widened as my brain tried to process this information.

 

“Oops, must have slipped my mind! We are having the annual Evans Labor Day barbecue tonight, and you have to come! Everyone will be there, and it’s going to be so much fun!!”

 

“What’s going to be a lot of fun?” My brother said as he walked into my room, fresh-faced after taking a shower.

 

“You and your stubbornly anti-social older sister are coming to the barbecue tonight! Ahh, I won’t take no for an answer, Naina, you have to get out of the shell you’ve constructed around yourself since undergrad, my little turtle,” she said as she pinches my cheeks.

 

“Akka, akka, we have to go now- she said there would be food!” Ananth tugged at my shawl, and gave me his little puppy dog eyes that I’ve been a sucker for ever since I held him for the first time 16 years ago. I knew that Shanna would use food to make Ananth go to the barbecue, and by extension me- gosh, you can make a teenage boy do anything by offering him food. Scratch that, most men will do anything for it too, so how can I blame him?

 

“Fine, fine, I’ll go,” I sighed in exasperation. “What time do we have to be there by?”

 

Shanna stated, “It’s around 2:30 PM now, so I’ll just wait for you guys to get ready cause the party anyway starts at around 6. I’ll just go change at home, and we can fuck around until then.”

 

I jokingly covered my brother’s ears when she cursed, causing both of them to laugh, until I remembered that we had legitimately nothing in the apartment yet.“Shit, we need to stop by Target for sleeping bags- I haven’t gone shopping for anything at all-”

 

Shanna quickly interjected, “Don’t worry, Mom would kill me if you don’t stay in our house for at least one night- we can go shopping tomorrow and get stuff that you guys will need for the next couple of days. Alright?”

 

I tried to argue, and then looking at Shanna’s face, I knew I wouldn’t win. So I sighed and said, “Oh god, alright, alright you win!” making Shanna laugh.  

 

I quickly finished unpacking my first suitcase (still have 2 to go, ugh) and hop into the shower, and wash up. Once I finish, I picked out a nice blouse to wear and a pair of black skinny jeans. I end up trying to tame my curly, unmanageable hair into some sort of hairstyle, and ultimately give up and let it air-dry. If you can’t win with hair, just give up, it’s much easier. I put on some basic makeup after taking off my glasses and putting in my contacts. I packed something small in my emergency overnight bag, and tell Ananth to do the same with whatever he needs.

 

It’s not the end of the world Naina… you’ll have fun, socialize, and be a normal human being without letting your stupid, stupid social anxiety get in the way! The pep talks I have to give to myself to function in party settings without alcohol is sad. I considered taking a couple of shots before going so that the alcohol would loosen me the fuck out, but I shot down that idea pretty fast considering how much of a lightweight I was.

 

My brother and Shanna waited for me in the living room area, and once we leave from there, we drive all the way to her home, and we talk some more about my hectic work schedule with my new job at the hospital that I’ll start up soon, Ananth’s new school that he’ll be joining, and we finally reach the house that I visited quite some time ago as a lonely undergrad who had just befriended Shanna. Not much had changed with that enveloping homely feel still present after all these years. Shanna ran to the front door and unlocked the door to let us in.

 

“Mom - look who’s here!” Shanna yelled as she drops her purse by the staircase.

 

Lisa came to the foyer, and her surprised face turned into one of elation when she sees who it is. “Naina, I haven’t seen you in forever! It’s been, what, close to 5 years now?!?!”

 

“Yeah, I haven’t seen all of you in forever!” I introduced her and Ananth, and they started chatting while Shanna and I looked around to see what’s changed in the time since I hadn’t been to the Evans residence for quite some time. 

 

Shanna suddenly exclaimed, “Damn, Mom! I forgot to get the hamburger buns and hot dog rolls from the grocery store-"

 

I almost fell over laughing- obviously Shanna would forget the most important thing at a barbecue. Can’t even begin to remember how many times we tried to make food in our suite in college until we realized an integral portion of the recipe was nowhere to be found in the fridge because she forgot to pick it up from the market.

 

I get pulled out of reminiscing when Lisa said to Shanna, “I have to pick up some other things for tonight from the store too, I’ll come with! Scott and your father have gone to get some charcoal for the grill, apparently there’s a new wings recipe they wanted to try.”

 

I offered to come along with Ananth, but they turned me down, saying that I should rest up for a little bit before the party. But I was already scouring the cupboards looking for ingredients to make a simple Indian coconut curry. Hey, medical school not taught me how to treat people, but also how to perfect making simple versions of my mother’s complicated authentic Konkani food recipes. Even with Shanna pestering me about how there would be enough food there already, I didn’t feel right just barging into their party without much prior warning. Plus, it would give me something to do to calm me down before talking to many new people at once.

 

 I looked over to see where my baby brother is, and I could see that gleam in his eyes when he was trying to get out of something. And the something that he was trying to get out of was helping me in my cooking escapades - he knows that whenever I get nervous, I’ll want to cook and then I’ll drag him into helping. Lazy ass. In a flat thirty seconds, he managed to convince Lisa and Shanna to take him with them on their grocery store run, leaving me alone to try to calm myself down. While they were leaving, he turned around to wink and smirk at me. I just stuck my tongue out at him. Ugh, what a jerk.

 

Shuffling around, I managed to somehow remember where Lisa kept all of her spices. I also look in the fridge to find some coconut milk and vegetables. I smiled when I realized that she still kept some of those ingredients that I had introduced to her when I stayed at their home regularly during those long college breaks when I would experiment in trying to create my mother’s recipes. The Evans became my culinary guinea pigs. I looked around to see where the pot is, and threw the coconut milk in to simmer on the stove while I began to chop up the vegetables.

 

Suddenly while chopping up the peppers, I thought that I heard some noise coming from upstairs. But nobody should’ve been in the house since Lisa had said that Scott and his father were out as well. “Maybe, I’ve finally gone insane and started hearing things...”  I shook my head, and kept cooking, and slowly got absorbed into the routine of cutting more vegetables and systematically adding them into the mix, adding spices while I go along.

 

I jumped when I heard a door slam, and someone (a very large someone by the sound of the feet) walking around upstairs. I quickly held my knife like a weapon, not knowing what the fuck was going on. All I did know was that I was not going to die today. Not before I managed to sleep in my own apartment, on that crazy ass comfortable mattress that I stupidly splurged on.

 

“Ma, Shanna, something smells really good! Are you making coconut curry?” a loud male voice boomed from the next room while the footsteps got louder.

 

Suddenly, before I could even say anything or even process what the mysterious voice said, a tall, well-built, dark-haired, gorgeous male walked through the kitchen entrance, and screamed like a little girl.

 

Hold up, it actually sounded like two little girls screaming. Oh wait, one of the screams was coming from me.  

 

I yelled, “Who are you?!?”

 

Without a moment’s pause, he yelled back, “Who are YOU?!?”

Copyright © 2015 chuckle123. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of chuckle123.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naina's outfit at the airport: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=186406124&new_publish=on


	2. Chapter Two

And then the bearded Adonis took a deep breath and a good look at me. A small smile formed on his face as he said, “Oh, it’s you. You’re… Her. You’re Shanna’s old friend from college. I’ve heard… A lot about you.” He chuckled to himself after he said this, as if there was some inside joke that I was missing out on. 

OK, so now I was confused. Apparently this guy had heard a shit-ton about me; therefore, this tall drink of water had the advantage over me. Isn’t it always awkward when one person in the conversation know a lot more about the other person? He looked at me with an expectation of recognition, like he was waiting for me to figure out who the hell he was. My mind had turned to mush after that unexpected scare, and I was completely at a loss for words.

Before I could say anything or even try to wrack my brain for who he might be, I heard the key turn in the foyer area. We both turn to see Lisa, Shanna, and Ananth walk through the door. Leaving Lumbersexual (seriously, his gorgeous dark beard fulfilled all my latent sexual desires in that department) in the kitchen, I made a beeline towards Shanna, ready to give her a piece of my mind about leaving me alone with a rando (albeit attractive) man without at least introducing me. Scratch that, she didn’t even bother to inform me that there was someone else in the house. 

Plus, she knew of my weird, irrational fear of getting murdered in strange ways by attractive randos like Lumbersexual. I know, it’s stupid, but it sprouted from all those stupid horror movies that Shanna was obsessed with in college, and that I was forced to watch. 

Ananth immediately left the foyer when he saw me coming, probably realizing, from my gait and all of his encounters with my subtle, murderous looks that he has been on the receiving end of many a time, that shit was about to go down.

Then I remembered that I was super-pissed at her, as I am actually quite terrible at holding grudges, and punched her in her arm, causing her to yelp and turn to me. 

“God, Shanna, why the hell did you not tell me there was someone upstairs? Do you know how frightened I was when I heard some random noises coming from there?!”

“Oh, shit, I completely forgot that Chris was upstairs!” Shanna exclaimed as she dumped some grocery bags into my hands while Lisa was fluttering around trying to do some last minute clean-up of the house. 

Ohhh… so Lumbersexual was the mysterious older brother named Chris whom I had heard about yet never managed to meet. Shanna talked about him very briefly during our college years, saying that he was an actor in LA, struggling and trying to earn a living in a cutthroat industry. But I had never met him in person, even on the breaks that I spent in the Evans residence. 

Come to think of it, I don’t think I’d seen anything that he was in when we were in college. Maybe he’d been in some small movies that I had missed when I was in medical school and basically had no life outside working and studying? Or maybe he’d come back to Boston to live a normal life after the glitz and glamourous life didn’t end up working out the way he expected. 

I was pulled out of my internal musings when Shanna and Lisa were salivating over my curry, and talking about how excited they were to try it. 

Shanna said, “Oh, Naina, this looks so, so good! You know, this is one of Chris’s favorite-“ 

“What’s my favorite, Ma?” a voice came from the kitchen entrance, where Chris was leaning against the door. I turned to look at him again, entranced by the small smirk that graced his face. He looked at me, and we made eye contact- intense on his part, uncomfortable on mine- and it made me shiver. Nobody had ever looked at me like that, not even-

“Ah, speak of the devil!” Shanna walked around me to greet Chris. She beckons me over with excitement, I’m assuming, to officially introduce us after our little unofficial scare earlier. 

“Chris, meet my old college roommate, Naina Prabhu. Naina, this is my older brother, Chris.”

I put my hand out to shake his, and said, “Nice to meet you officially, Chris. Sorry about earlier, I get startled very easily, and I didn’t quite recognize who you were right off the bat even though you obviously knew who I was. “ 

Laughing, Chris reached out to shake my hand, and answered, “Not a problem! Shanna never shuts up about her old college life, especially about you as her roommate, probably because that’s when she peaked-” 

Shanna scoffed, saying, “Well, you were the one who was hanging onto every word!” She then shoved her older brother’s shoulder, which made him laugh since he actually didn’t move. Like at all. Kind of like a brick wall. 

He was still holding my hand though, and immediately, I noticed how large his hand felt, clasped around my tiny one. And also, how he held it for a bit longer than normal. He also looked like he expected some sort of reaction out of me or say something in particular, eying me warily with those hypnotic blue orbs. And how he looked strangely familiar, as if I had seen him before. 

And Chris was an incredibly hot Bostonian guy who was incredibly photogenic. Maybe I’d seen someone that looked terrible similar to him. Then again, I just had been scared out of my mind, so maybe the adrenaline pumping through my veins was warping all of my perceptions.

“Only good things, I hope,” I said nervously, while extracting my hand out of his. He was still looking down into me intensely, with some sort of emotion that I couldn’t seem to read. And all the while I was trying to figure out what he was expecting me to say. 

Jeez, and why was I getting so much more nervous around him than normal? Probably because he was an attractive male talking to me which didn’t happen often. Yeah, let’s pin it on that. 

At that point, Lisa called for me to come check on the coconut curry and the rice that would be served with it. I left Shanna with Chris and went back towards the stove. The rice looked fine; but I needed to do a taste test on the curry. It was alright; however, it wouldn’t quite up to my mother’s insanely high standards of cooking for her daughters.

I could hear her in my head already, passive-aggressively telling me that I need to work on my traditional Konkani cuisine cooking skills or else I would become an old spinster and the laughingstock of all those gossiping Indian aunties. 

I put the lid back on the curry, and gave Lisa a thumbs up about the taste, who then left the kitchen to check on something else. Suddenly the thought that I’m cooking this for a group of predominately non-Indians went through my head. I yelled out, without turning away from the stove, “Shanna! Can you come here a moment?” 

Shanna came, bounding through the kitchen door, and walked up behind me, and peered over my shoulder. She lifted up the lid of the pot, looking as if she would swallow up the curry by just smelling it. “Gosh, Naina, the curry brings back so many memories from the apartment we had in our senior year.” 

I pulled her out of her reminiscing, saying, “Well, then, you must remember that out of all our 6 other roommates, you had the lowest tolerance for spice.” I kept staring at the curry, just to do a final check to make sure that I had used the correct ingredients and not forgotten any important spices and such. 

When I was satisfied, I continued, “Even those shitty chicken tacos from the dining hall were too spicy for your taste. So, taste this and tell me if you could eat it, otherwise I’ll need to add a lot more coconut milk to temper it out.” I turned to my right side, ready to offer Shanna a spoon-full of the curry, waiting for her approval. 

Well, surprise, surprise, Shanna had apparently left my side to go get something from the fridge while I was once again caught in my thoughts about the curry. Instead, it was Chris, who apparently had followed Shanna back towards the kitchen earlier when I had called out to her, who was standing very close to me. In Shanna’s place.

Before I could say or do anything else, he stepped forward, towering over me, caught my eye and winked, which confused me even more. He leaned down and sipped at the spoon that I had originally kept for Shanna. He was so close to me, I could feel his masculinity and his expensive-smelling cologne enveloping my personal space. 

He said, with a big smile on his face, “Mmmm, that’s delicious, Naina! You must make this again sometime, except I’ll be eating all of it and not sharing it with anyone.” 

That was the first time I had heard him say my name aloud (with perfect pronunciation, if I may add). The way in which his tongue caressed each syllable of the word, as if he was uttering a forbidden and sacral word that should be said with utter care, made my round eyes widen even more and my heart beat faster. The intimacy, which may have just been perceived on my part, caused the hair on my arms to rise in the middle of the warm summer afternoon. 

“I’m glad you liked it,” I said breathlessly while looking at Chris licking his full lips, which Shanna definitely noticed because, after that, she caught my eye and winked in the same manner as her brother.

I turned to drop the used spoon in the sink, and tried to use that moment to gather my thoughts, and put the lid over the curry and turned the stove off.

Shanna also tasted it after, and reassured me that it would be fine for most of the people coming. Shanna always had a gift for making me a less nervous and angsty. As my roommate during those weird college years when I was trying to find myself, she knew about all my insecurities, especially about the ones relating to cooking my mother’s family recipes. 

I then went to freshen up a bit before the party started, all the while still thinking about the smell of Chris’ cologne, and grabbed my go-to shawl out of my overnight bag that somehow matches almost all my clothing, just in case it got colder later in the evening. When I came outside into the backyard, the party was in full swing, and the sheer amount of people there pushed all thoughts of Chris to the back of my brain. I spotted Ananth, a great creator of small talk, in case you were wondering, conversing with a couple of teenagers, and decided to let him tread the social waters by himself. 

Shanna, who can be quite the mother hen- bless her, took me under her wing immediately, and introduced me to different people, all of whom were very welcoming and kind. I also saw Bob Evans who seemed very excited to talk to be about my other younger sibling, Mira, who recently was admitted to dental school back at home in Maryland, and how she was finding the career path. I took his number to give to her in case she needed some professional contacts. She’d definitely thank me later, and I’d get some extra brownie points over Ananth in my sister’s books.

God, I had completely forgotten how tired I was from travelling after my initial rush of energy from this afternoon’s events was gone. All I wanted to do now was get into a comfortable bed and watch Netflix and chill in the literal sense, in a completely non-sexual fashion. Or maybe in the sexual fashion with Chris. OK, Naina, don’t even go there.

Feeling my face beginning to heat up because of those illicit thoughts, I quickly excused myself to go grab some alcohol to loosen myself out. I had promised myself that I would not use alcohol as a crutch, but I gave myself a pat on the back for lasting as long as I did. Especially after being so tired from the plane ride. Hopefully that wouldn’t come bite me back in the ass later. 

I saw Chris hanging around the grill area, talking and laughing with a very pretty, skinny brunette, laughing. Wonder whether they were dating, I mused. And I wonder why I even care about that- it’s not like he had any obligation towards me, the man could do whatever the fuck he wanted. Or whomever the fuck he wanted. 

He was dressed in a plaid shirt and jeans, looked like a lumberjack ready to cut some trees. Obviously, my face was at this point was very red because those illicit thoughts were making a comeback. However, it wasn’t too noticeable to anyone but me. Probably the only time I’m thanking Krishna for my darker- colored skin. 

He caught my eye, and smiled at me, nodding his head in acknowledgment while raising his beer bottle up to me. I gave an awkward, half-hearted wave back with a tight smile gracing my lips. 

Looking through the cooler, I grab some beer (ugh, I really dislike beer, but there was no other alcohol, so it’d have to do) when I hear a voice calling my name. I turn and was suddenly enveloped, almost engulfed, by the long and fairly muscular arms attached to Scott Evans. 

“Scott, oh my goodness, I haven’t seen you in forever! How’ve you been?” 

“Naina! Let me take a look at you, sucks that you didn’t have that long awaited growth spurt…” I pretended to be offended, and punch him in the arm. 

I sarcastically replied, “Hey, hey, let’s get this clear one last time- I’m not short, I’m fun sized!” to which he laughed. 

I continued, “Anyway, tell me more about LA, Shanna said you had relocated there after the last time I saw you a while back.” I turned the conversation to him, one- because I was genuinely interested in hearing more about the West Coast since I hadn’t been there for about 15 years, and two- because I was so tired of talking about myself during the intense mingling session that Shanna put me through. 

Scott continued to tell me all what he was doing, including his recent projects of some movies and TV shows, and I ended up not recognizing any of them, although I didn’t tell that directly to his face. I just smiled and nodded, pretending like I understood the words that were coming out of his mouth. Then, the same brunette who was talking to Chris came over to apparently introduce Scott to someone else. 

At that point I met Tara, one of Chris’s childhood friends, whom he was NOT dating. For some reason, I felt a small sense of relief- probably because this meant that I could silently thirst and lust over him from afar without a sense of guilt about the fact that he had a significant other. My confused feelings just pushed me to drink more alcohol, which probably wasn’t the best idea in the world. 

And with my luck, obviously Chris came over when he saw Tara, Scott, and me gathered together. He grabbed a beer, and stayed behind with me, after Tara and Scott left. 

Before Chris could say anything, Ananth decided to make a sudden appearance after his intense mixing and mingling in the party (something that he, as an aspiring lawyer, should be good at, and something that gave me an intense amount of anxiety) and grabbed my shoulder, making me automatically jump. I slapped his shoulder, “God, Ananth, you really have to stop doing that! You’ll actually give me a heart attack one day, I’m getting older, you know.” 

But Ananth wasn’t looking at me anymore, he was looking directly at Chris. Like he somehow recognized this man whom he shouldn’t have met before. He started to gawp like a fish, something that my mostly cool and collected brother doesn’t do very often. Unless he’s about to geek out. Which he usually only does about sports or comic-book related things. 

And then I suddenly understood why Chris had stared at me as if he expected me to say something when Shanna had introduced us. And where I had recognized him from. And why she hadn’t explained anything about how his acting career was going. Because she probably assumed that I couldn’t have been that much of a hermit crab, even during my arduous med school years, to have not recognized him. Before my brain could fully pull all the pieces of this puzzle together and tell me how much of an idiot I’ve been, my brother began to bounce up and down, and excitedly stated, “Oh my god, you’re Captain America!” 

And then I suddenly remembered why he looked awfully familiar. He was the actor that portrayed one of Ananth’s favorite superheroes in those comic-book movies that he fawns over. 

Chris rubbed his neck and looked down at his feet, looking a bit uncomfortable with Ananth’s geeking out session where he talked about how much he had liked some movie about a winter soldier that apparently had released earlier this year, which confused me even more.

Chris looked quite anxious and nervous, something that my completely incompetent and unobservant brother didn’t seem to understand. 

Trying to save Shanna’s brother from my own, I not-so-subtly grabbed Ananth by the elbow, and asked him to go get me another soda and some food, pulling out my big-sister card. Hopefully that would buy some time for Chris to escape from my brother’s fanatic actions. 

“Thank for the save, by the way. I never quite know how to handle fan interactions like that. I just start dripping sweat when meeting the ardent fans of the movies and comic books.” Chris looked really grateful as we walked a bit away from the main party congregation in the middle of the backyard. 

“It’s no problem, honestly. My little brother, though I love him with all my heart, can be such an overwhelming dumbass at times.” 

He chuckled, emitting a deep, rich sound that I swear went straight to my soul. “Little siblings can be like that- I know, being the second oldest in the family.”

I sighed, “I’m sorry, I feel like such a moron for not recognizing you when we first met. I was wondering why you looked so damn familiar, as if we had met before, and it was because I had spent so much time on eBay, trying to bid for that stupidly expensive limited edition comic book movie box set that Ananth had been coveting for a year.” 

He let out a hearty laugh, throwing his head back and grabbing his chest. Specifically, his left pectoral muscle. Or his pectoralis major if we’re going to use Latin medical terms. OK, now I know I’ve getting a bit tipsy- I’m throwing around terms from my Gray’s Anatomy textbook willy-nilly. 

“Don’t worry about it, it’s great to not be recognized just for those movies,” he said with a dazzling smile. To quench the thirst that this man is arousing in me, I took another swing of beer. 

“Hopefully, Shanna forgets how to recognize me!” I said with a small laugh. “Sorry that was a terrible joke,” I shuddered, making Chris chuckle.

“Seriously though, if I have to socialize or meet any more new people, I may just about fall over! I’d forgotten how tiring these parties could be for an introvert- I hadn’t met this many people in a short span of time in quite a while.” 

He touched my shoulder, and looked at me with concern in those blue eyes. “Hey, no, I get it. I have anxiety issues too, don’t worry, so I get that sometimes people just need to recharge their batteries, so to speak.” 

Gosh, he was so sweet. Just like Shanna and Scott. Guess that the saccharine trait ran through the Evans veins. I’d end up with a high blood sugar if I spent too much time with them. 

I was laughing internally about how terrible that line was, when I saw Chris rubbing the back of his neck and looking all over the place. I asked him, “Is everything alright?” 

“I was… umm… actually going to walk around to this lovely lake nearby that’s gorgeous during this time of the year. It’s not like anyone would notice us missing with so many people around. You wouldn’t want to… accompany me, by any chance, would you?” He looked down at me from his 6’ height.

“Ehhh…I don’t know…” I hesitated, wondering what would happen if either Shanna or Ananth came looking for me, trying to use the bullshit excuse of the responsibilities I had to both individuals. I couldn’t trust myself around this guy until I interpreted these weird feelings that I had every time I was surrounded by him and his aura. 

But Chris was looking at me with those puppy dog baby blues that would, at this point, convince me to do just about anything. And he was rubbing the back of his neck, which he was doing a lot around me. God, I never realized how hot men look when they do that. Especially when they look like Chris. 

He seemed to notice the internal conflict that I had going on, and said, “Please do me the honor? I would love some company,” he said, while holding out his arm. Like he was Prince Charming or something. I almost swooned right there. Although I’m not quite sure whether it was because of the alcohol I had or because of how he held out his arm. It was most probably the latter reason. 

I knew that I definitely had more than enough beer, because, after shaking my head, as if that would clear my meandering thoughts, I said to him, “You know what? Yeah. Yes, I’d love to escape this hoopla for a while and clear my head,” gesturing to the mass of people gathered in the space of his backyard. I took hold of his arm as we made our way away from the party. 

Copyright © 2015 chuckle123. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of chuckle123.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naina's outfit for the party/barbeque: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=185954489
> 
> This is a South Indian variation of Chris's favorite "coconut curry" recipe. The Konkani dish is actually called "valval", which is basically vegetables in coconut milk, and I've taken a couple of liberties with it in terms of what was added.  
> http://www.aayisrecipes.com/side-dishes/vegetables-in-coconut-milk-valval/
> 
> The Amazon link for the DVD Set that Naina gifted Ananth:  
> http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Cinematic-Universe-Assembled-Incredible/dp/B0083SBMGW


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The word “Amma” means “mother” in the Konkani language (spoken in India) mentioned earlier.

In retrospect, my decision to leave the party with Chris could be thought of as either the best or worst decision I’ve made. Depending on who you’d ask in my life, you’d get varying answers. 

We made our way away from the hustle-bustle of the party, walking along a small dirt road that led out of the Evans backyard towards a big forest area that lingered in the back of the Sudbury neighborhood. 

When I had first visited Shanna, I had loved strolling down this path. Now, walking the same way with Chris, I was recalling all those times we both had spent together recovering from all the times we used to get so caught up with our college life with our papers, exams, and other such things.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Chris asked me, throwing off my rumination over the past. 

“Whaa...? Oh yeah, I was just thinking about the first time Shanna showed me around Sudbury. And how she had shown me some of the trails in the area. It never failed to remind me of how I had pictured the Shire in the Lord of the Rings trilogy that I had loved reading as a young child. Well, at least how I pictured it when I had just picked up the book, way before the visionary Peter Jackson ended up filming those movies. Anyway, we would come here sometimes to just get away from the real world for a while, that held all those stupid responsibilities and obligations, to just appreciate the beauty and simplicity of nature. I’m sorry, I’m rambling, I’ll shut up…” 

He looked like he wanted to say something, but I ignored him and kept going on, saying, “No, actually though, I think the reason I do it is because I’m such an anxious perfectionist that I always feel like I have to explain everything perfectly, which then makes me over-explain.” I sighed, “Concision isn’t one of my strengths.” 

“Honestly, you’re fine,” he said in a reassuring voice. “Actually it’s-“ 

“It’s what?” urging him to continue, trying not to sound too overexcited about what he was going to say next. 

He looked like he was going to say something, but he then shook his head, and continued, “Never mind that, anyway, Shanna used to love coming out here with Dad and I when we would go hiking.” Chris told me as we reach a small clearing, which required a relatively small jump to make it to the bottom. 

Chris reluctantly, or maybe I was just how I was imagining things after the alcohol I had consumed at the party, let go of my hand and jumped down. He then turned to look at me, waiting for me to join him. I peered down over the ledge, and looked down at him. 

Gosh, I really hate heights and jumping down from things. To avoid that, I try to employ my usual tactic of sliding down from heights instead of jumping. Yes, I thought, that should work here too. 

I think I ended up pausing for a bit too long, because Chris said, worriedly, “Hey, you okay?” 

I took a deep breath and keep staring at the big gap, and Chris started chuckling, “Oh right, Shanna did mention something about how you don’t like heights…”

I retort, trying to put on a tough face, “No, I just really, really hate jumping from heights… and other such tall places…” fear punctuating every syllable that I uttered. 

Chris reassured me, saying, in a comforting yet commanding voice, “Here I got you, just sit your cute little butt down on the ledge, and I’ll help you down.” 

I shrugged, and tentatively nodded. That sounded like an alright plan, and I then followed his instructions. Like Shanna, he’d be a great teacher, with his ability to help people conquer their fears. Great, now all I was thinking about him was him instructing me in other more explicit activities. Gosh, Naina, get a hold of yourself! 

I was getting myself ready, both physically and psychologically, to grab his hands to make the jump myself. Except I think Chris got a bit impatient with me just getting lost in my own thoughts, and grabbed my waist suddenly without any kind of warning. 

I felt his large hands lift me, and drop me to the ground besides him. I let out a small yelp, and grabbed my goddamn right knee after the landing impact. That stupid thing didn’t even let me enjoy the feel of Chris’s beautiful large hands, their heat permeating through my thin blouse, making me feel those stupid emotions once again that I’d felt earlier in the day. You really, really need to calm the fuck down, Naina. 

“Oh shit, are you alright?!?!” He crouched down to my height, making his head come dangerously close to my crotch area, trying to see if he could help me in any way. Don’t betray me now, body… Mind over matter! 

I clenched my teeth, saying, “No, don’t worry about it. Totally not anything you did. This stupid knee has been such a pain in the ass since I tore my ligament when I was younger because of dance, and it didn’t heal properly. I’ll probably have to look into a physical therapist in the Boston area. Good thing I decided to avoid wearing heels today, otherwise it probably would’ve been ten times worse.”

“Let me see if this helps,” Chris said. He made me sit down in the grass, and took ahold of my right leg, setting it in his lap. Good god, my knee was so close to his crotch that I started blushing. Wonder whether he noticed my reddening face at all since there wasn’t even good lightening in the area, with it being near dusk. 

He started to knead and massage my sore knee, after rolling up part of my jeans, and I automatically started melting into a puddle. I had to bite my lip in an effort to not start moaning with the amount of tension his hands were massaging out of my body. God, his thick fingers were making me feel so good. And making me think about other parts of my body that they could make feel good too. 

While he started to massage my calf as well, I cleared my throat, and said hoarsely, “Hey, thanks, my knee feels much, much better now. We should probably get going to the lake though…” 

Maybe it was just me, but Chris had this weird look on his face, or at least what looked like a weird look under the umbrella of foliage above us, for maybe half a second. However, before I could read him, he smiled, and said, while still holding my leg “Yeah, the sunset always looks gorgeous there.” 

He got up, and stretched, allowing me to see a sliver of pale skin on his stomach that contrasted well with the dark, fine hair of his happy trail. Holy fuck, he had to be doing all of this on purpose; he couldn’t be that unaware of the effect he had on women. 

He pulled me up by my hands, and then tugged on some of my curls to take out random pieces of grass. Seriously, even I don’t know how they got into there- but things have gotten lost my hair, so I’ve stopped questioning it. God, his touch was so fucking distracting. 

He supported me while we continued our stroll, keeping a firm grip on my elbow as we walked (and I tried not to hobble or limp too much) as a form of support. We walked for maybe a couple more minutes until we reached his lake, which was beautiful. 

“Goddamn it, why did Shanna not show me this before?” I exclaimed as I slowly made my way towards the shoreline of the lake, kicking at some of the pebbles with my toes. 

“I think she hasn’t been this deep into the forest. When I first discovered my inner astronomy nerd, I used to come here to look at the stars and marvel at the night sky,” he chuckled. 

“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” I turned to look at the sunset and my surroundings, observing the shadows that the light was casting on the ground. I laughed- mine was short with my untamed curls giving me an extra inch of height, contrasting with Chris’s tall, bulky shadow that was right next to it. His shadow could have completely engulfed mine, I mused. 

“Yes, it really is.” I turned to my left to see him looking in my direction, with what I perceived to be the same intensity I had seen earlier during the day. I’m still not quite sure what to make of it. I spent some time, deliberating on what Chris might’ve been thinking. Maybe he was just looking at the shadows too.

Or he was thinking about how I looked like a complete idiot, staring at shadows. Surprise, surprise, Naina, since light travels in straight lines, when it hits an object, the photons can’t pass through, creating a dark not-illuminated place. God, you should know this with all those science pre-requisite classes you had to take in college for medical school.

“Your knee must be paining, let’s sit down here for a bit,” Chris said. He gestured for me to sit down first, in a very gentlemanly fashion, and then sat down next to me. 

We sat in a comfortable silence, which is definitely weird because, for me, most silences are usually awkward. Or I just perceive them to be awkward. But neither me or Chris feel a desire to break the silence that enveloped our surroundings. It was peaceful, quiet, and calm: multiple things that would be missing from my life while I tried to adjust to my new home in Boston. So I enjoyed this for a little bit longer. 

“I don’t think I actually thanked you for bringing me here. I really needed this, especially because I haven’t had much alone time recently.” I decided not to look at Chris directly, not knowing whether I could deal with any more of those feelings that he awakens in me. 

“I’m glad that this place makes you feel more calm- I used to come here a lot when I was younger and couldn’t really get ahold of my anxiety issues. I always felt more at peace here,” he says wistfully while looking at me. 

“Amma, my mother, always says that nature has healing powers for the soul and mind, that nature is a manifestation of the divine,” I said with a soft smile. When I let myself think about the things she used to say to me, and the pearls of wisdom she’d often give her children that she received from my uber-religious Hindu grandmother, my heart began to ache with how much I missed her in person. 

“Your mother is a very smart woman,” he said with a chuckle. 

We lapsed into another silence, looking anywhere and at anything, except each other. Well, at least in my case. I fiddled with a couple of the rocks that were laying nearby, trying to keep myself busy and not ruminate too much about what and who I’d left behind when I came to Boston. Or ruminate over Chris. And the way he made me feel. 

I had wanted to ask him this in the kitchen, but Shanna hadn’t left us alone, so this was the perfect moment. Mustering up all the courage I had, I asked, nonchalantly, “So, Chris, you said you knew a lot about me- how’d you heard about me? Shanna mentioned a bit about you, but you recognized me before I even knew who you were.” 

He did that thing again. That left pectoral muscle grab when he lets out a hearty laugh. Gosh, his laugh is so contagious, I chuckled as well. Our laughing dwindled, and he spoke, “Well, Shanna and me are pretty close. I remember how excited she was when she had gotten her college acceptance letter, and how pumped she was to attend school for four more years before she could teach-

Interrupting, I said with a laugh, “Try adding four more years of medical school to that!”

Chris put his hands up in mock surrender, and said, “Touché, touché. But whenever she’d talk about college, she’d talk about her classes, her exams, her pompous professors. But she’d always talk a lot about roommates. I guess, I lived vicariously through her, since I ended up moving straight to L.A. after high school. So I ended up hearing about all the shenanigans that she was up to with her roommate posse. And you held a special place in her heart because she met you in class...” He murmured the last part of that statement, so I’m not even sure if I heard him correctly. 

I replied, “Hey, it all worked out, right? I mean, you’re a successful actor, everyone loves your work and knows who you are now-“ 

“With the exception of you!” he said, interrupting me and clasping my left knee as he laughed again, probably thinking about how much of a hermit I had to have been to not recognize him. 

I laughed, “Yes, with me as the sole exception. But it all worked out in the end, I guess. Things usually have a way of working themselves out, in my mother’s opinion, at least.”  
“I agree,” he said with a smile. 

“So, back to the topic at hand,” I said, steering the conversation back in the direction I wanted it to go. “We’ve established that you know a lot about me, and I know close to nothing about you, correct?”

“Yes, it would seem so,” he said with a chuckle. 

“OK, so this may seem like a stupid idea, but let’s tell each other what we do know about one another- “ 

“So, like a weird, reverse version of Twenty Questions…” Chris said, trailing off near the end. 

“Oh right,” I mused, “yeah, when you put it that way, it is a fucked up version of that game, I guess. And at the end, if there’s anything else that either of us want to ask the other at the end of the game, then we’ll do that.” 

“Let’s get started- I'll go first,” he said, with his trademark smirk that I’d seen on his face multiple times this afternoon. 

“OK, I’ll say some things that I know,” he said. He started to speak without any hesitation or pauses. “I know you feel cold almost all the time, and always carry a cardigan or a shawl around. You apparently have a terrible sense of humor and laugh at the shittiest, corniest jokes. You love old movies and super spicy and super sour food…” 

He paused slightly to catch his breath, and continued, “you like to power-clean during finals- as a huge procrastinator and neat freak, you like to do household chores so you’d vaacum, mop, and clean everyone’s dishes. Even though you were really strict about enforcing the chore schedule that you’d drawn up. You love making lists and writing everything down. You hate wearing heels even though you’re very short-“

Wow. I’m actually envious of his ability to remember all this information- I could've used that skill during my hours and hours of rote memorization during medical school. Shanna must have talked a shit- ton about me to Chris, and I found about this out only now. Even my parents who've known me for 26 years don’t know about my nervous tendencies about cleaning and my love for old movies, and this guy I’ve never even met knows such intimate details about me! 

I must have looked super shocked, because Chris immediately stopped his almost- rant about what he knew about me. He asked if I was OK, and I replied in the affirmative. 

With a lot of hesitation, I started with the gimme- answers that were pretty damn obvious. You could basically figure this out if you met even one person in the Evans family. 

“OK, so I know that you’re Shanna’s older brother who’s an actor who lives in L.A… You were basically her chauffeur when she was in high school to all the activities she used to participate in… What else is there- oh, in terms of birth order, you’re sandwiched between Carly and Scott, your parents are Bob and Lisa, and you are all in a tight-knit family…,” I started, wracking my brain for other things that I knew about him. Other not-so-stupid things. 

His blue eyes, which gleamed with excitement when talking about what he knew in regards to me, were playing tricks on me. They seemed to get duller as I struggled to remember things about him. “Hmmm… give me a couple minutes, let me see what else I remember…”

Weirdly, afterwards, Chris became warier with his answers, and spoke more slowly, as if he had to wrack his brain to try to find information that he knew about me. “You’d danced, I think, for the Indian dance team in college- as captain for some of those years- and you essentially emotionally blackmailed Shanna into joining the team….”

I wasn’t paying too much attention to what he was actually saying because I was trying to figure out why he seemed like he was holding back as compared to his earlier behavior. Maybe he didn’t want to embarrass me since he knew way more about me than I knew about him. 

Or maybe he just remembered my weird quirks easier cause they’re not quite common. Either way, I had no plausible explanations for his behavior. 

These thoughts must have jogged a memory or two about what Shanna had said to me about Chris in college. Suddenly, I remembered some more information, pausing between each fact to gather my thoughts. 

I slowly stated, “You like the Patriots, I think... You play piano and-or guitar…. And I, for some reason, remember this weird story Shanna told me where you peed your pants when you were 9 years-“

“Tom Brady is a god incarnate! And… uhh… that story was actually about Scott,” Chris said with a grin on his face, causing me to blush due to my poor memory. He continued, in a proud tone, apparently trying to impress me, “I actually convinced him to do that in front of our babysitter, Stephanie. And I can play the piano, guitar, and fake it on the drums.” He stated the last part haughtily, for some strange reason. Probably to emphasize his musical ability. 

We then continued our game. I said to him, “You also really like animals, specifically dogs, from what I remember. You even had a dog, I think? His name was…. East or West, something of that nature?”

I said all this with great trepidation, unsure of whether my memory served me correctly or not. 

His face suddenly lit up, and that spark, that had been missing, reignited in his eyes when I told him these not-so-obvious things regarding what I knew about him.

“Yeah, his name was East! He was an American bulldog, and we were best buddies.” He then wistfully said, with that spark fizzling out once more, “He passed away some time back.” 

“I’m sorry,” I say, patting his bicep, feeling the muscle bulging underneath. God, this man is actually a Greek god, with his muscular build and perfectly structured jawline and aquiline nose. 

He looked somewhat upset, so to make him feel better, I tried to distract him after I quickly remembered another thing that Shanna mentioned, “Oh my god, I remember something else! We both apparently really hated one of Shanna’s asshole boyfriends in college-“ 

Interrupting me, Chris said, in an exasperated tone, “Oh my goodness, Rodrigo?!? Yeah, I think I disliked him the most out of all the meatballs that she’s ended up dating-“ 

I laughed, saying, “Oh my god, I know! As soon as I met him, I had this weird feeling about that little fucking piece of shit. UGH! God, he’d hit on all of us behind her back! And ruffle through our personal stuff! He was such a sleazy meatball, to use your words…. I had to beg her to break up with him. GAH! He made me so terribly pissed- out of all of the boyfriends I’ve met, he was the WORST!” 

“Good riddance to that meatball,” he chuckled, while shaking his head. 

God, he’s literally perfect. And I’m stupidly thirsting after him. Normal, average guys wouldn’t date me. As if I had any chance with an actor, let alone a Hollywood one who apparently is in super-popular movies that everyone but me has seen. 

And I shouldn’t even be thinking about him in that way. Not only is he Shanna’s older brother, but after the talk that I had with Amma and Dad before I left about how I was getting older, old enough to-

My cell phone buzzed loudly, making me jump and interrupting my reflection on the unattainability of Chris Evans. I checked my phone, and apparently, there was sale at Macy’s for 30% off on all their summer clothing. At least, according to the email that I received a couple of seconds ago that ruined my rumination session. 

I turned to Chris, and said, “Shit, I completely lost track of the time! We should probably head back before it gets too dark, and Shanna bites my head off-“

Shaking his head and getting up, he replied, “Don’t worry, she wouldn’t do that,” and chuckled to himself in a similar fashion as he had done earlier in the afternoon. As if he was enjoying another inside joke that I was missing out on. Or maybe it was the same one. In any case, my curiosity about the matter was actually killing me. But I wasn't about to ask him about it. 

He pulled me up, and wrapped my shawl around me to protect me from the sudden chill that was in the air after the sun had set. His hands, probably inadvertently, caressed my neck and arms while he tucked in its sides, leaving no exposed skin. That made me shiver. His touch, not the cold. Or maybe a mix of both, I’m not quite sure. 

We both walked back in relative silence to the house, following the same path that we used earlier. When we reached the backyard once again, I noticed that the large party had died down, and a much smaller get-together had formed with only close friends and family remaining. Good, this was something that I could deal with. 

Before I could go inside and use the “Shanna and/or Ananth is probably looking for me excuse,” Chris grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him. Not expecting this, I staggered forward, falling into his arms. His body heat enveloped me, protecting me in the slightly chilly evening and causing my mind to turn into mush and the rational side of my brain to completely turn off. 

He slowly let me go, pushing my unruly raven curls that had fallen over my face behind my ears. And what scared me was that I didn’t want him to let me go. I wanted to burrow further into his embrace, and feel his muscular arms wrap around me. I wanted him to pull at my curls, the one time I appreciated how I couldn’t control my hair and how it moved like it had a mind of its own.

But the fact that I was having these feelings, feelings that I really shouldn’t be having, frightened me so much damn more. God, these mixed emotions were giving me such whiplash. I quickly stumbled backwards just so I could put some much-needed distance between us. 

When I looked up at him though, warning bells started to go off in my head. He was doing that thing again, where he rubbed the back of his neck and looked anywhere to avoid eye contact with me. 

And it hit me. Oh god, was he going to ask me what I think he was? Oh no, I shouldn’t have gone with him in the first place, I shouldn’t have encouraged this at all. Even if he was the most charismatic, good-looking man that I had the pleasure of meeting in quite some time. 

I was praying to every deity that my mother had in her enormous shrine in our temple at home that he wouldn’t ask the question I was 99.9% sure was going to be uttered from his lovely lips in the next 25-30 seconds.

And then he dropped the bomb. Looking at me with those deep blue eyes, he said, “So you know how we said that we could ask each other anything at the end of the… the reverse twenty questions game? Umm… Shanna had mentioned something about how you didn’t have a boyfriend or anything. So… would you maybe want to go out sometime, like to get a cup of coffee or something along those lines?” 

Oh fuck, Naina, things are about to get hella awkward. 

 

 

Copyright © 2016 chuckle123. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of chuckle123.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naina's outfit:  
> http://www.polyvore.com/naina_evans_barbecue/set?id=185954489
> 
> The forest path/trail that Chris and Naina go on:  
> http://wellesleydentist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2015-12-Trail-in-the-forest.jpg
> 
> The lake that they visit together:  
> http://photos1.zillowstatic.com/p_h/ISx74wwc9135791000000000.jpg
> 
> The beliefs about nature expressed by Naina's mother are quite prevalent in Hinduism. You can find more detailed, in-depth information regarding the topic here:  
> https://vedanet.com/2012/06/13/hindu-view-of-nature/


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter is slightly longer than the others. Hope you enjoy reading! :)

“Ummm…. Well… I don’t know about that….” I trailed off uneasily while my fingernails suddenly became ten times more interesting.

“Oh.” he said abruptly, his gorgeous smile sliding off his face. 

He started doing that neck-rub thing again which never fails to get me hot and bothered. Except for at that very awkward and very, very uncomfortable moment. 

He continued, “Do you think… uhhh…. Could I ask why?” while staring at his feet. Served my purpose well because I don’t think I could look in his general direction, let alone try to look into his perfect eyes on his perfect fucking face. 

I started to ramble, after taking a deep breath to clear my thoughts which totally did not work at all. “Well, you see, I start my residency in a couple of days, and I need to focus on doing well if I plan on getting a fellowship later. And Ananth is starting school again, and he hasn’t been away from home ever before. Plus, Boston…. It’s a new city, you know? I need to get settled and get a hold of myself before thrusting-“ 

I stopped my sentence abruptly and blink rapidly, my face heating up really fast. Holy fuck, Naina, what the hell was that word choice?!?!

Even though I usually have trouble reading his feelings, his blue eyes widened comically, so much so that he looked like one of those Looney Toons cartoons that I used to be obsessed with as a child. 

“I mean, before getting into the dating scene again-“ I said, with a very large emphasis on “getting.”

He started to say, “- no, not to worry, I understand-“ 

And then, my unspoken prayers to every deity in my mother’s temple were answered, as my apsara, my angel, appeared in the form of Shanna Evans, and I was so happy that I almost bowed down to do namaste, and prostrate myself at her heavenly feet. 

She sighed, threw her hands up in the air, and marched towards us. “Naina, Chris, there you are! God, Naina, why the fuck do you disappear at every party we go to? You need to break out of that bad habit.” She then proceeded to basically drag me away from Chris, who was standing there awkwardly. I felt so bad as I looked over my shoulder to see his face, but now I was just able to see the brown fence that enclosed the Evans backyard. 

I tugged my arm out of hers, and turned to grab a water bottle out of the cooler. I needed to keep a cool head after what had just occurred; thank God I didn’t see him standing anywhere close to me.

I’m pretty sure I could never ever face him or even see him, either on or off-screen, after the debacle that had just occurred. In fact, I was so embarrassed that I’ll probably never be able to even utter his name again, either aloud or even in my head. Wait, that last bit sounds incredibly difficult- don’t completely hold me to that promise. 

“Shanna, what happened? I’m super, super tired, and all I want to go is just collapse onto a bed and die-“ 

Suddenly, a female voice spoke from behind me.“Well, Naina, before you do that, come over and say hi!”

I turned to see Shanna’s older sister Carly, whom I had met multiple times when I had come back with Shanna during breaks. “Oh my goodness, how’ve you been, Carly? I heard from Shanna that you’ve gotten married and all that jazz-“ 

Interrupting me, she said, “Yeah, wait, I think last time I had met you, I wasn’t engaged yet. I also have 3 children, all of whom are inside right now. The older two boys, God only knows what they’re doing-” 

Suddenly, Lisa came up to the both of us, and smiled, saying, “Carly! You met Naina again? Good, you guys can catch up. Anyways, she’ll be in Boston for quite some time now, right?” She then looked at me to affirm this information, almost as if she hoped that I would stay close by. Makes sense, I mused, I was always pretty close to Shanna and her family generally. And I had been quite close in proximity a couple minutes ago to- 

Interrupting my own thought process, so I wouldn’t dwell on something I shouldn’t be thinking about, I smiled at Carly. “Yeah, I’m going to be doing my medical residency in the MassGen hospital nearby while Ananth was going to be going to this boarding school in Cambridge. So I ain’t going anywhere,” I winked in an exaggerated fashion afterwards.

Carly squealed and started hugging me, making me laugh. Even after having 3 children, this woman still gets excited and acts like a child herself, a trait that I had observed in most of the Evans family members. 

Lisa, who looked like she was very far away in her thoughts, said, “This makes me remember how Shanna and her used to come back home, and how we all used to spend some much-“ 

“I spent more time here than at my parents’ house during those breaks!” I joked, which made both of them laugh. 

Lisa startled me, and turned to Carly. “Oh my dear lord, speaking of mothers, Carly, your little girl needs to be fed-“ 

Before Lisa could say anything else, Carly bolted away from us towards the house, which made me chuckle. Even during medical school, the mothers I had observed with their children would drop everything to take care of whatever their little babies needed. The power and hold that these tiny creatures held over their families always astounded me. 

Lisa then introduced me to the last few people whom I hadn’t met at the party earlier because of my forest dalliance with- 

Don’t do this, Naina. Don’t think about him, not now. 

Pushing the events that had happened to the back of my mind. I threw myself into my usually-hated socializing, surprising Shanna who had come to stand next to me, probably to provide me with moral support. Or she was guarding me, making sure I didn’t escape away from her again. She needn’t have worried, the fear of talking to-ahem, him- made me engage in every and any other possible distracting activity

Thank goodness I didn’t see him anywhere after our little escapade. Or maybe Shanna was just being a great buffer between my weak acid and his strong base. I’m sorry, I make such shitty chemistry puns when I’m nervous. And feeling pathetic.

The fact that he was nowhere to be seen was great though. The rational side of my brain reasoned that I had fucked up way too hard to be graced by his beautiful presence. But the irrational side, with all those messy emotions, of my brain ached to be enveloped by his aura, or maybe even enveloped by those muscular arms. Feeling my face flush, I downed more of my water in an effort to make myself calm down. 

Afterwards, once the mingling had died down and it had become dark outside, all of the party guests ended up dissipating. Even Carly and her family had to go, which saddened me since I hadn’t had the chance to see her children in person. Apparently Stella had become quite cranky, so her husband and her had packed up their little brood and drove back home. Bob too had left to go home to his wife and children, Shanna’s step-mother and step-siblings, whom I had also never met. 

Then came one of the best parts about that party- the cleaning up. Lisa, Shanna, and I cleaned up the food table, and then proceeded to do the washing and cleaning of plates and putting the large amount of left-over food into the fridge. I was happy to do whatever they needed of me. After a full evening of talking to people, I wanted to spend the rest of the evening alone with my introverted self, to completely recharge my batteries. 

Apparently, Scott and Chris (I know, I gave up on trying to avoid saying or thinking his name) cleaned up the messy grill area, and Ananth was tasked with picking up any discarded trash on their lawn. 

To avoid having to confront the almost inhumanely perfect man I had rejected, I basically chained myself to the sink, copiously scrubbing dishes, afraid of looking around me in case he showed up. 

To my immense relief, even after Lisa, Shanna, and I had cleaned up the food stuff, Scott and Chris were still outside, doing God knows what. Ananth later walked in after he was done cleaning up, my usually extroverted brother also looking pretty spent. Probably from all the travelling. 

I looked towards Lisa and Shanna. “Hey guys, I’m feeling super, super exhausted. I think I’m going to just go and crash, if you don’t mind…” feigning an extreme amount of fatigue. I was pretty tired but not enough to completely fall over. I just really needed to relax alone in my room. 

And also try to completely douse Chris’s memory from my mind. It would be easier to forget everything- why even entertain the thought of something that just can’t be, Naina?  
Especially since I didn’t want to lead him on, not when I knew what was waiting for me in the near future. 

Lisa pulled me out of my thoughts, saying, “No, Naina, I totally understand, especially since you just moved to the area today!” She turned to Shanna and said, “Get Naina and Ananth settled in the two empty rooms upstairs- I’ve already set out some things for them, so everything should be all set.” 

Shanna led me and Ananth upstairs. While walking up, I asked her, “Am I staying in the old guest bedroom?” 

Shanna laughed, saying, “Yep, that’s the one you’ll stay in tonight! Ananth will stay in Carly’s old bedroom-“ 

“The one with the huge closet?” I said with a laugh. I remembered how Shanna and I both used to always be jealous of how much space her closet had, especially compared to those dingy ones in the room that we shared in college. 

Shanna chuckled and nodded, “Yes, that one.” She then pointed out the various rooms to Ananth, and when she pointed out Chris’s room, that weird nervous feeling erupted within me, creating butterflies in my stomach. And what the inside of Chris’s room looked like, and obviously my mind deviated to thinking about what naughty things we could do in-

“Here we are!” Shanna announced, pushing the door open. Not much had changed since I had been here a couple years ago as an unsure undergrad. Except for the fact that now I’m an older medical resident who’s crushing on the boy who lives in the next room. 

“Everything should already be here in the both the rooms- linens, towels and the like. I’ll just go show your brother to his-“ 

“Shanna, will you come back later? I want to talk to you…” I said the last part while yawning. Holy shit, I must be more tired than I had initially realized. Wait, and why had I called her over again? Right, to talk to her about Chris. 

“Yeah, honey, I’ll be back in a minute-“ she said, patting my shoulder. After that, I said goodnight to my brother and reminded him to wake up at a somewhat reasonable time tomorrow morning. 

She took Ananth, who was holding his bag, down to the other end of the hallway, near where Scott’s room is. I have half the mind to ask Shanna to let Ananth and I to switch rooms, but then- 

I’d have to tell her about what happened tonight, I realized. And Chris is her brother, so she’d find out at some point anyway. And she’d then question me about why I had turned him down. Believe me, since she’d known me for so long, she’d know that the reason I gave him was a bullshit excuse. How the hell did that slip my mind?

My brain just apparently cannot function right now, with the stress of all that has happened today with Chris and meeting all those new people. I was totally completely done in every meaning of the word.

Oh god, I don’t think I could handle any more awkward situations today after all that has happened, especially where I’d have to tell her about my weird, mixed feelings regarding him. I wasn’t even sure exactly how I felt anyway, what the hell was I going to converse to her about!?! 

So I decided that I’d do what I do best. Procrastinate and completely ignore the situation. Well, until it came back and it had to be dealt with. Yes, I’ll push it to the side for now. Maybe I’ll talk to her tomorrow morning. 

As soon as I had decided a course of action, my lovely friend showed up in front of me.

“Hey, Nains! What do you want to talk about? I’m all ears, hon!” she said in such an excited manner. Only when she’s ready to gossip does she ever use my nickname that all our other roommates gave me.

“Hey, Shans,” I retorted with her nickname given by the same roommates, “it’s not terribly important- we can just talk tomorrow morning.”

Surprisingly, she readily agreed with me. “Yeah, honey, you look like you’re about to fall over… Tell you what, I’ll send up a hot mug of that hot Earl Grey tea that you introduced me to. That still helps you fall asleep, right?” 

I smiled at her, not believing that she remembered such an insignificant detail about me after such a long time. Maybe that’s why Chris knew about all my little quirks about me. 

“Yep, that still knocks me dead at night.” I informed her with a laugh.

“I’ll bring it up sometime later. Don’t you dare wake up early tomorrow morning to make some fucking complicated breakfast- “

I gave her that look where I pretended to be completely innocent, but she had definitely caught me. I was planning on waking up early to make something to try to thank the Evans family for their hospitality. I’d work around Shanna’s forbidding tomorrow morning, I usually found a way when I used to stay here earlier. And now that I’m older and wiser, it should be even easier. 

“Ugh, fine. But, yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then. We’ll figure out the shopping details too right? I still need that stupid car, food, and the movers are coming in-“ 

Shanna, while snickering, grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me softly. “And I’ll be there to help you deal with all that bullshit tomorrow morning. Good night.” I wished her the same, and as she walked away, she turned back at me, looking at me over her shoulder. 

“By the way, good job on the mingling today- I’m proud, you’ve much improved your skills. I’ve taught you well, my young turtle,” in reference to how I’d retreat my so-called “shell” that I’d built around myself, according to her. 

I replied, “Ha-ha. Thanks though for being there when I needed you- you’re the best.” 

“That I am,” she said in a proud tone, making me laugh. We wished each other good-night once more before I went into my room. 

I changed into my comfortable pajama pants, cami, sweatshirt. I then washed off my makeup, took out my contacts, slipped on my slipper socks, and shoved my glasses onto my face. I was now totally comfortable and prepared for relaxation. Except my brain was still on overdrive after this long eventful day. 

I went back into my room, and collapsed onto the bed. Well, now that I was in bed, I wasn’t too terribly tired anymore. Geez, that always happens to me. Ugh. I stared at the ceiling, laying on my back and trying to analyze exactly how I felt about Chris by thinking through what all had happened today. 

Well, once again, the rational side of my brain totally shut down, and all I could think about was his perfect features. His baby blue eyes that looked like they held the bright sky. His strong, well-formed jawline. His beautiful physique that would be the envy of the physicians in ancient Greece. His full lips that looked so kissable. His impeccable-

Before I could continue waxing about his perfections, my knee started throbbing. Ugh, would I not be left in peace tonight? Neither thoughts about Chris nor my knee pain would leave me anytime soon. I tried to alleviate some of the pain by putting on my physical-therapist mandated brace that hasn’t been used for a while, I know I’m terrible. 

And that didn’t work at all. God, now I’m going to have to get out the big guns. 

I shuffled and limped slowly to Shanna’s room, and knocked to see if she has any sort of pain medication or balm to help me feel better. Unfortunately, even though I was usually prepared for a zombie apocalypse, those are some of the things that were missing from my supplies in the bag I brought for the night. 

I knocked twice, and nobody answered. Strange, I mused. I knocked once again, and noticed that the door was unlocked. Praying that she was decent, I slowly opened the door and, obviously, the man whom I was trying to avoid was sitting on Shanna’s bed over her sheets. With his back facing me. 

I was about to close the door, and come back later to ask Shanna to save me from all this pain, when I noticed the trademark blue-and-white screen of Facebook. Ah, I see, he was stalking people on the Facebook. So even famous people engage in the same activities as us plebeians. Maybe he was catching up on all his friends’ and family’s escapades that he missed while filming, I pondered. 

Wait a minute, that looks like my profile picture from my white coat ceremony before I started medical school. I could recognize my curly black hair from anywhere. 

And that video that was playing underneath it, that was the dance video from Shanna and my final performance during senior year in the annual intercollegiate dance competition.  
I thought about how we gave a performance of a lifetime- taking the trophy in the cultural category- with the fantastic stunts, hip and pelvic thrusts, and difficult choreography. I smirked as I realized that he was Facebook stalking me.

But why was he stalking me? He’s him and I’m me, and we were worlds apart. And he already knew so much about me, so I wasn’t sure what additional information he would find on my profile page. It hadn’t been updated since before I started medical school. Either way, the fact that a Hollywood actor was looking at dorky old me’s profile gave me a confidence boost, I’m not gonna lie. 

While I was smirking to myself, and trying to figure exactly why Chris was doing this, apparently he noticed me standing off to the side. He slammed the computer screen lid, almost threw it away from him, and quickly stood up, and ran his hand through his hair. He blushed and turned bright red, which was pretty hard to ignore with his pale Irish-Italian skin. 

Looking very cute with his red face, he said, “Naina!” in a high pitched voice. He then cleared his voice, and said in his normal voice register, “Naina, wha- what are you doing here?”  
His flustered tone and completely rattled behavior, which would usually make me feel terrible second-hand embarrassment, put a slight smirk on my face. 

Feeling my face heat up, purely because of the awkward situation, I replied curtly, “Yeah, hey- sorry to bother you- I was just coming to ask Shanna for some things for my knee- “

“She actually stepped out for a shower, I think, she’ll be back in a moment…” Chris said while looking at my leg, concern glistening in his eyes. 

“So… you’re on Facebook? As Chris Evans or… Captain America, is it?” in a shitty attempt to alleviate the tension in the room. 

Shockingly, he laughed pretty hard. Guess he liked my sense of humor. “No, actually I don’t use Facebook anymore, I was just borrowing my sister’s account to…” 

Feeling emboldened, for some strange reason, I retorted, “To stalk her ex-roommates?”

He smirked, “Something like that. Honestly though, you gotta teach me to how to dance like that. I wish I had the hips for that,” staring at my waist and hips with an impressed expression. 

I started to reply, “I’d love to-“

I was interrupted by Shanna walking into the room in her pajamas, with a towel wrapped around her brown hair and another wet towel in her arms. 

“Naina?” she said in a surprised tone. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to bed.” She threw her towel into the laundry hamper by the door, and came to stand next to Chris, and winked at him, I’m not exactly sure why. 

Ignoring her strange behavior, I started to speak, “Yeah… I was, but my knee started hurting again, and I was wondering if you had any Motrin or pain balm that I could use.” 

Shanna, being the motherly person she was, started fussing over me, and said, while almost pushing me back to my room, that she’d bring the Motrin and the balm to my room along with my tea. The entire time, I could feel Chris’ intense gaze on me, and that was fucking me up. 

Anyway, I was then back in my room, and I couldn’t fall asleep: one, because of the intense pain; and two, because Shanna was going to bring me things to make me feel better- falling asleep on her would be quite rude. 

To kill time, I started, well re-started, contemplating today’s events.

I knew Chris liked me because he had asked me on a date and even Facebook stalked me, but why? And this hot guy, who knew so about me, had a crush on me, and I don’t even know how old he is?!

To remedy the situation, I decided to pull out my laptop and switched it on. I opened up Google, to do a preliminary search on the mysterious Chris Evans. 

Well, apparently, he wasn’t so mysterious to most other people. He had more than 100 million hits pop up in less than a minute. Damn. 

His gorgeous face came up on the right, with some basic information about his family- most of which I already knew. Except for his age- apparently he was 33 years old- and exactly 6’0. And there were also links to another British Chris Evans who was much older and much less attractive, which made me giggle.

Skimming through some of the results, I saw his Twitter account and completely avoided that. Ugh, I hate Twitter- probably because I don’t quite understand how to use it. Yeah, I know, I’m a hypocrite because I have a Facebook. In my defense, I’ve only uploaded photos for others to stalk and because Shanna begged me to create an account our sophomore year. 

I then clicked on his IMDB page. Scrolling through his biography, I found more about his love for acting that had manifested when he was very young and how he managed to transform that into a career.

Looking through his trivia, I realized I should have read this before playing the reverse twenty questions game (I didn’t know all the Evans children could tap dance!) Anyway, there’s no point crying over spilt milk. 

Then I went to his filmography page and then realized I didn’t recognize any of them. I knew I’ve have to watch those Marvel movies at one point anyway. However, some of the smaller ones caught my eye, like his directorial debut “Before We Go,” and apparently Puncture was about a nurse contracting a fatal infection because of an infected needle, which fascinated me as a medical professional. I bookmarked that page for later reference.

Going back to the Google search, I was redirected to some Hollywood-related sites where I read a small bit about his dating life with Minka Kelly, Jessica Biel, and even Sandra Bullock! All of whom were infinitely more attractive than I was- so why was he trying to go on a date with me? 

I also saw some photos from Comic-Con where he was promoting some Age of Ultron movie that was coming up next year, and he also was apparently in NY for the US Open Tennis Tournament recently, drinking beer and looking like those rambunctious frat boys that I thought I’d left behind in college. 

I went back to the search results where an interesting YouTube video was listed on the side with both Scott and Chris’ face on it. Convincing myself I was watching it for Scott, I clicked on the video. 

Apparently they were on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show (since when did Jay Leno stop hosting it??), and Scott recounted the same story Shanna had told me of Chris convincing him to pee in his pants instead of going inside to use the bathroom. Chris’s laugh was the most adorable thing in the world. As was Scott’s subtle save to avoid being hit by Chris’ hand slapping him in the chest. 

He also had done the Ice Bucket Challenge, which I had somehow mercifully avoided this summer. Although I had donated money to the foundation, there was no fucking way I was dumping ice cold water on my head. I smiled seeing the entire Evans family dump the water on Chris- he looked so delicious in that suit. 

Making myself comfortable after taking off my sweatshirt so I could relax on the bed, I then went on the downward spiral into the depths of Chris’s interviews. I can’t help it- I just got sucked in with my intense curiosity and my need to know.

I saw some trailers of his movies including all of his Marvel movies which looked… not half-bad. I’ve have to check them out sometime, I mused. I also watched the interviews, mostly for Winter Soldier. And he looked perfect in all of the videos- with beard, without beard, blonde or brunette. Uff. 

And then I saw a nearly naked body come up on my screen next (I’d forgotten about the AutoPlay feature on YouTube). Oh. My. Fucking. God. I immediately gathered that it was Chris’s naked body from some chick flick type movie he did a couple of years ago. Hot damn, his sculpted physique nearly made me drool. And there was only a towel covering his crotch area. I just about died.

I was so overwhelmed by the sight of his glorious head-turning form on my computer screen that I don’t think I heard the knock. Before I knew it, a shadow formed on my bed where I was sitting. I looked at the shape for a second, and I recalled that Shanna was supposed to come to give me something for my knee pain that I’d completely ignored while doing my Chris-Evans-knowledge-marathon. 

Wait a second, that shadow was too large, too tall, and too masculine to be Shanna. There could probably be only one other person attached to it. And with my shitty luck, it would’ve been him. 

Oh fuck. Abort. Abort! But for some reason, this crappy computer that I’ve had for forever wasn’t shutting down. Forgetting about that, I quickly threw down the lid, and chucked the laptop away from me. 

And it was him. Chris was standing over me, while I was laying down on the bed, holding a small tray that I presumed had pain killers, medical balm, and some tea. With his trademark smirk, I was able to confirm that he had seen me looking at the movie clips where he was half-naked. 

I immediately turned radish red, and scrambled to my feet, touching my hair and face to try to tell myself to breath. I knew he could tell how mortified I was since he was standing so close to me. Damn, out of all days to not wear a bra under my cami… he could probably see everything. 

“Chris! Ummm- Hi! I hadn’t heard you come in…” That sentence started off pretty weak, anyway, but it became feebler as I trailed on.  
He then turned away from me, walking towards the small side table that was on the other side of the bed, and placed the tray there. He then walked back and stood in front of me, his tall form towering over my short stature.

I resigned myself to look at his toned chest, until I felt his warm breath near my ear, making my body temperature spike. I’m not sure whether it was because of his proximity or whether it was due to my mortification. 

Chuckling, he said, in a husky tone filled with mirth, “I guess we’re even now.” He straightened his back, and winked at me. He turned and strutted out of the door, which he left wide open.

Shit, I was so fucked in multiple ways.

Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An apsara is a celestial nymph in Hindu mythology, similar to an angel
> 
> Namaste is traditional Indian greeting or gesture of respect, made by bringing the palms together before the face or chest and bowing.
> 
> Naina's sleep outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=186861796&new_publish=on


	5. Chapter Five

I woke up- rather- got out of bed fairly early in the morning. I trudged to the bathroom in the hallway, and started to get ready for a day filled with work related to setting up my apartment. After that, my parents would drive up from Maryland with any miscellaneous things that I needed. And to approve of my apartment and of my life in Boston general. And to make sure that Ananth had settled well into his new school that would open up opportunities for him.

I showered and put some basic makeup on after slipping on a pair of yoga pants, a grey tank top, and a sweatshirt. I basically tried to make myself look like I had a restful nights’ sleep even though I had barely slept a wink, tossing and turning the entire night while thinking about my Chris-related incidents. 

I walked downstairs to see Shanna sitting there at the dining room table in the otherwise empty kitchen (and even empty first floor of the house), holding a coffee mug and a toasted bagel in hand with a smirk on her face directed towards me. 

In a matter-of-fact tone, she said, “I knew you were going to wake up early to try to concoct some sort of elaborate breakfast, so I woke up before you did and beat you to it,”  
Sigh. She knew me waay too well. 

Rolling my eyes, I walked over to the coffee pot, and poured some into the closest mug. I smiled when I recognized it as the one I had gifted Shanna in our sophomore year after our huge marathon in our dorm room where we snuggled under blankets and pillows for a lazy Saturday. When filled with a hot liquid, the black mug then begins to read “I solemnly swear I’m up to no good” like the Marauders Map, making our dorky selves very happy. 

Shanna’s voice boomed from behind me, saying, “Naina, there should be some cream and sugar near the microwave oven, and there should be toasted bagels in the oven.” 

Eek, I hate plain bagels. I yelled to Shanna, “Do you have cream-“ 

She immediately interrupted me, retorting, “Cream cheese is here with me, just get your butt over here, sit down, and eat your breakfast.”

Oh no. That’s Shanna’s “I-have- some-sort-of- important-business-with-you” voice. Most of the time, it was directed at other people, especially at our unorganized and messy suitemates. I was usually the good cop in our “good cop, bad cop” duo, letting such things slide and preferring to keep the peace and clean myself when others wouldn’t do it.  
I mixed some cream and sugar into my coffee, and grabbed a bagel and a knife. I made my way over to the table where Shanna was waiting for me. 

I sat down, and munched on my bagel and drinking on my coffee, waiting for when Shanna would break this very, very awkward silence. I wondered when she was going to do that, because I wasn’t about to say shit. 

I know, I had promised myself that I would talk to her about yesterday’s Chris-incidents today, but I was just chickening out too much. Plus, I’m pretty sure if I put it off enough, it would become a non-issue at some point. 

Alas, that wasn’t meant to be. As soon as I polished off my bagel, Shanna put her mug down and started playing with the spoon handle that was sticking out, looking like she wanted to say something. 

“So, Chris and I were talking last night…” 

Oh. No. So this was the unavoidable moment where I was going to have to face the music. 

I nonchalantly stated, in what was supposed to be a neutral voice, “Oh? What did you two talk about?” pretending to be only vaguely interested. My coffee suddenly got much more interesting as I stared into it. I wonder how many coffee beans went into making this, recalling a New York Times article that I had skimmed a while back discussing the economics of fair trade coffee. We proceeded to have a very interesting and stressful back-and-forth discussion. 

“Don’t play dumb with me, Naina, I know EVERYTHING. I know he asked you out, I know you said no and gave some bullshit- don’t look at me like that, I’ve known you long enough to know when your excuses are fake- about being busy or whatever. What I want to know is why.”

“Do we have to talk about this now, Shanna? I mean, what I told him WAS true, I have my residency and Ananth to focus on-“ 

“Naina, you used to have a million things in college that required your focus- you’re a great multitasker! So I know that the excuse you gave Chris was bullshit- he really likes you Naina. He wouldn’t have borrowed my Facebook account to look at your profile otherwise- he’s a generally low-key guy.” 

“I’m aware that he likes me Shanna- otherwise I’m pretty certain the man wouldn’t have asked me on a date. What I don’t understand is why he wants that. He’s dated the likes of Sandra Bullock and other pretty starlets like-“ 

“Well, someone was doing some research last night,” Shanna said in a teasing manner. Continuing, she said, “By the way, he also told me about that run-in you too had last night. God, why don’t you admit that you like him?” 

“Fine!” I said in an exasperated tone. “I admit it- I think… I think like Chris, and there may be something there between us, but I simply cannot do it Shanna. I can’t explore it any further and lead him on like that.” I got up after downing my now-cold coffee, and started pacing around the kitchen room, trying to think of a way to get my point across to Shanna.

“Why would you be leading him on? Give me one good reason why you couldn’t even try to date him- all he wants is one date, Naina! Surely that won’t kill you.” She said in her patience-filled teacher-voice that her students probably will have to hear in the next couple of days when school starts again after Labor Day.

I let out a big sigh, and inhaled, trying to wrack my brain about how to tell Shanna “the news.” 

“Remember when we talked about our futures in college? How we’d talk late into the night, about our professional and personal lives- wondering about that first job, who we’d date or marry, when we’d do that, those types of things?” 

“Yeah…” she said in a confused tone. “What the hell is your point, Naina?” 

“I knew, before any of you did, the answers to all those questions, or at least had a vague idea. Especially with the checklist of expectations that my parents definately had of my future husband or-” 

Shanna inhaled sharply; surprise, shock, and understanding filling her emotive eyes. “Oh no, Naina. Your parents still want that for you?”

I collapsed into my chair, and pushed my fingers through my hair, in an effort to calm myself down. “Yup. They’ve said they’re going to start the whole godforsaken matchmaking process in the next 2 months or so.” 

She laughed harshly, “We all thought you were joking Naina! I mean, it’s such a fucking stereotype-“ 

I retorted, “Well, it happens to be true in my case, Shanna! And arranged marriages are still the norm in most of India and in the diaspora, so it can’t be that terrible if some 1.5 billion people are doing it! Every single person in my family has had an arranged marriage. And they don’t seem miserable- they grew to love their partners!” 

She stared at me, trying to process all the information I had just spit out at her, and she looked like she was going to say something and thought better of it. She swallowed, and we sat in silence for a minute or so. She then spoke, “You could also grow to love Chris, you know. You don’t have to close off all guys, just go on a date with Chris and see where it all goes.” 

I sighed exasperatedly, “If I go on any dates at all with him, I’ll be leading him on. And I don’t want to risk making our feelings stronger. It’s too hard to break out of my parents’ expectations, Shanna-you’ve met them, you know how it-.” 

She pushed her chair back with a loud creak, and got up to put her plate and mug in the sink, rinsed them, and loaded them into the dishwasher. She washed her hands, and then turned to me. 

In a curt and harsh tone, she stated, “I thought you’d be able to tell your parents no, Naina. I thought that if you found a guy you liked, you’d finally grow a backbone and be able to stand up for yourself. But I guess not.” She spat the last sentence in my face, and stormed off upstairs. 

I stayed in the kitchen for a couple of seconds in shock that she had said that to my face. My eyes swelled up with unshed tears. Out of all the people I’d have to tell, I thought she’d be the most understanding. 

I went back up to my room, and packed up all my things that had been left askew downstairs. I also made a small to-do list of all the things needed and tasks to get done for the apartment. I then took the tray and mug from last night and placed it back in the kitchen after washing them. Luckily, I didn’t run into any of the Evans family members. 

Unfortunately, I hadn’t run into Ananth. Which probably meant that he was being a lazy-ass and was still fast asleep. Ugh, he knew that I had to get the apartment all set up today because I had to get his school registration things done tomorrow. 

I went to his room, where he was sleeping like a log with his mouth open, limbs splayed all over the bed. I looked at him enviously. Usually I would feel bad waking him up when he looked so comfortable, but since I barely slept last night, I was in a foul mood. 

I shook him vigorously and pulled the blankets off his body. “Ananth, get up! Go get ready, we have to finish getting the apartment ready. Don’t you dare fall back asleep!”  
He murmured, “Yeah, 5 more minutes, Akka,” and turned the other way. Hopefully he’d wake in 5 minutes. Scratch that, he’d better wake up in 5 minutes or I’d whoop his ass. 

I went back to my room, and straightened up the bed area and tidied up the entire room. I hate things being unclean and not organized, so I made sure that the area was spotless before going back to check on my brother. 

I went to his room, but his bed was completely messy, but empty. Strange, I mused. Wonder where he went. I then heard the water turn on in the bathroom. Ugh, he just went in for a shower?! We are most definitely going to be late today. 

Heading to the bathroom in the hallway where I assumed my brother would be after dragging himself out of bed, I knocked on the door and said, “Ananth! Make sure you come out fast, we have to leave soon. For once in your life, take a quick shower and get the fuck out of there quickly!” 

Suddenly I heard the shower turn to a stop, and footsteps coming towards the door. Why was he coming to the door? I just wanted him to finish quickly. Maybe that meant he was already done. I started to say, “You know you didn’t have to come to-“

And obviously Ananth wouldn’t be the one to open the door. Guess who was? A wet Chris poked his head through the door opening, and looked down at me, quizzically. 

“Naina? What are you doing here?” 

I immediately began to panic and started to splutter. “Oh- my gosh- I’m so sorry, I was looking for Ananth, and I thought-“ 

“That your younger brother was in here? No, I can confirm for you that he's not here.” he said with a smile. He continued, with a sly grin on his face, “Although, you could come in here to check if-“

“NO! No, I’m good, thanks,” I almost screamed. I took a deep breath, looking at my feet, and said ran my hands over my face and through my hair. “I’m so sorry to have bothered you- enjoy your…your shower- I should go now…” , pointing in a random direction away from Chris’ delectable naked body, that was thankfully hidden behind the door. 

“That I will, thanks,” he chuckled, grinning at me. I basically bolted from the hallway, into my brother’s bedroom. 

I slammed the door shut, locked it, and turned around, and was shocked to see Ananth sitting on the bed, munching on a granola bar. 

“Wow, you asshole, you still haven’t gotten ready yet? We have to leave soon, remember? I have to get an entire apartment ready by myself,” I roared at him. 

He replied, “Relax, Akka, I’m already showered and ready to go, thanks to your interruption of my beauty sleep this morning.” 

After he had finished, I told him to get everything packed up. While he got his things together, I managed to straighten up the room. Opening the drawers to make sure Ananth hadn’t left anything behind, I looked inside. Interesting, I mused. There was one of Chris’ old photos in front of the garage with a dog- 

“That’s Chris with his dog, East, by the way,” a voice came from behind me. 

I whipped around to see Shanna awkwardly standing by the door. 

She whispered sheepishly, “Can I come in?” 

“Yeah- of course- come in” I replied, placing the framed photo on the bed. 

She ran over and basically jumped on me, and hugged me tightly, “I’m so sorry Naina, I was so mean to you earlier this morning. I know how your parents can be, and as your friend, if this is something you want to do and are okay with, I’m 100% behind you.”

“It’s OK. I- I really need your support, Shanna, I can’t deal with all this on my own.” I said, my eyes tearing up and my voice filled with unspoken emotion. 

“And you won’t have to.” She pulled away from me, and quickly dabbed her eyes, and we both laughed. 

I then said, “This reminds of the time we argued about Rodrigo, and when you didn’t talk to me for a whole day when I told you to break up with that shithead, and later you found him with another girl in his room-” 

Shanna quickly replied, “Yeah, yeah, you don’t need to bring that up again. Ugh, can’t believe I ever dated him. Anyway,” she said, clapping my shoulder, “come downstairs whenever you are ready to leave. What do we have to do today, again?”

I pulled out my little Post-it note, and I began to list off the things that I needed to do. “Pick up household items and sheets, get my rental car for the next two weeks, finish unpacking the big items to furnish the apartment, and be there for when the movers come in with the furniture.”

Shanna laughed, saying, “You still haven’t stopped making lists, have you?”

I folded the note up, and stick it in my pocket, “Of course not, otherwise, I’d no longer be Naina Prabhu! Plus, I’d forget everything that I’d have to do today.” 

She walked back out the door, and looked over her shoulder. “Oh yeah, come downstairs whenever you guys are done and ready to go. I anyway don’t have anything to do today, so I can come and help in whatever you guys need.” 

“Sure thing,” I answered while putting the photo back in its original place. I’d have to take a closer look at it later because I had just checked my watch, and it was almost 10 o’clock in the morning and I hadn’t done anything of use! 

Picking up Ananth’s bag, I walked over to my room to get my own bag and purse. Doing one quick glance across the room to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind, I walked down the staircase, and placed the bags near the front door. 

I heard some murmuring coming from the kitchen, probably from Shanna and one of the other Evans family members. Not wanting to invade their privacy after taking advantage of their hospitality for one night, I turned to walk back up the staircase. I’d just come down a bit later to tell Shanna that Ananth and I were ready to leave. 

Except I suddenly was able to make out one word in that incomprehensible murmuring- my name. Naina. Now that curiosity had killed the cat, only satisfaction would bring it back. In this scenario, it would be me figuring out why Shanna was talking about me behind my back. And to whom. 

I slowly creeped my way across the foyer, until I reached the slightly ajar kitchen door. I could make out Shanna and…. Chris? Why were they sitting on their dining room table, sipping on coffee, talking about me? I thought that conversation had been resolved since I had given that bullshit excuse to Chris, and I told Shanna about the arranged marriage deal. Both of them received some sort of answer from me, so why was this still an issue? 

“-you manage to find out why Naina said no?” 

Whispering, Shanna responded “I know I told you that her excuse was bullshit, but, Chris, you should be the one to ask-“

He interrupted, in a slightly louder voice, “But you promised you’d talk to her this morning! I feel something, there, Shanna, something could happen between-“  
“This is a conversation you should have with-“ 

At that moment, my allergies decided to act up, and I suddenly sneezed. Loudly. Damn it. 

The door swung open, with Shanna standing there in front of me, “How long have you been standing there?” 

“Ummm… long enough. Why?” I tepidly replied.

Looking at Chris, who gave her a slight nod, she then clapped her hands and said, “Well, then, I’ll leave you guys to it.” Seeing my bags near the door, she turned to me, and said, “I’ll load your bags into the car. Scott and Mom have gone out for the day, but they said goodbye and threatened to find your apartment if you didn’t come visit soon.” 

I smiled and nodded, “That’s fine, Shanna, thanks.”

She then left the room, leaving Chris and I alone in the kitchen. He stared at me with those intense and sensitive blue eyes, and then patted the seat next to him. 

Knowing I couldn’t avoid having this conversation any longer, I begrudgingly took a seat, leaning slightly away from his direction so I wouldn’t get distracted by his aura.  
Chris started to speak, “So, I’ll just get straight to the point, then. Tell me why you won’t go out with me. All I’m asking for is one date, Naina.” There he goes, saying my name again. I want to hear him say it over and over again. Focus, girl! No distractions. 

“Umm… alright. Yeah, the reason I gave you yesterday was just a stupid excuse. I can’t date you because… I’m going to have to get married soon.”

He seemed confused. “So you’re engaged to be married? But you don’t have a ring-“

I countered, “No, no- uff. It’s just, I’m getting older, and my parents want me to be married soon.” 

“So they want to start dating right? To find someone soon? Go on a date with me,” he said in an insisting tone with a smirk on his face. 

I sighed, half in exasperation, and half because I was tired, and he was obviously not getting the point. “No- Chris- my parents have always had… certain expectations from me, in almost all aspects of my life.”

He still had a confused look on his face, so I kept going. “I’ve always known the type of guy that I have to be with- he has to fulfil certain standards. He'd be a professional- doctor, lawyer, engineer- who’d be from a good, cultured Konkani Indian family, from the same caste-”

He started chuckling, and responded, “And I check none of those boxes, right?” 

I smiled, and sighed regretfully. “Yeah, kind of. Amma and Dad had… had this huge talk with me before I left for my residency. They said that since I was entering my late twenties, and that my life has somewhat settled professionally, they want me to start focusing on my personal life. They want me to start the whole arranged marriage process- looking through profiles, meeting boys that they’ve selected-“ 

Suddenly, he interrupted me, “Do you like me?”

I rolled my eyes, and curtly replied, “That isn’t even relevant-“ 

He repeated, uttering each word that passed through his red lips in a slightly louder tone, “Do you like me? It’s a simple yes or no question, Naina!” 

Losing my patience, I stated, “Yes, I-”

His face suddenly filled with happiness. I internally smiled, what a dork, but managed to maintain a neutral expression. He then said, his voice filled with excitement, “So if you weren’t stuck… I’m looking for a way to word this… in your situation, you would’ve agreed to go on a date with me?”

I quietly mulled over the scenario for a moment, and then replied, “If I wasn’t in this situation, I could maybe see a possibility of us trying or something, even though I still don’t know you as well as you know me-“ 

Chris looked like he wanted to interrupt, but I put my hand up, and continued, “However, I am in this situation, like it or not, and us going on a date is not what’s going to happen. Your hypothetically scenario won’t become a reality- even though I like you, we have no chance together.”

We both quietly contemplated all that had been said in the past couple of minutes. Breaking the silence, he said, “Well, how about you get to know me?” 

I wanted to interrupt him, to reinforce the idea that I simply could not go against my parents’ wishes. Opening my mouth to say this, he mimicked my actions and held a hand up, and kept talking, “It doesn’t have to go anywhere. We could be friends, right…?” his blue orbs filled with hope. 

To be honest, one side of me was telling me that there was no way in hell I could be “just friends” with him. The attractive forces between us were too palpable- we were like two magnets of opposing poles trying to come together- they’d stick together at one point or another. 

Unfortunately, the other side was saying that I just couldn’t avoid seeing him, considering my close relationship with Shanna and the Evans family, who were the only people I knew in the Boston area. 

And I’ve had guy friends before. So I reaffirmed his thought, “Yeah, we could be just friends.” Yeah, Naina, you can do this.

Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naina’s outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=187134283


	6. Chapter Six

“Finally! Jesus, that took fucking forever,” I sighed as I collapsed into the new couch that furnished the small living room. In my own new apartment. Wow, even saying it sounds weird. 

“Never realized you had so much stuff.” Shanna’s voice drifted in from the kitchen, where she was getting some more chicken wings and pizza. Ananth had already gone to bed after gobbling down his portion of our Italian fast food dinner, tuckered out from all the running around we did today. 

I replied, “Well, there’s still one large suitcase and 3-4 more boxes that have to be unpacked though. On the other hand, we got that insane amount of shopping- groceries, household items, the works- out of the way and finished. So it was a pretty productive day. But, I never, ever want to do that again- alone or with someone’s help.”

She came back and collapsed next to me. “Glad to know that I’ll never have to help you move in again- thank goodness the furniture moving went smoothly.” 

She started at her plate for a minute, and then looked at me. “You do realize; I’m going to regret this carb-filled, cheesy goodness tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, but that’s tomorrow morning.” I retorted. “And it will have saved me from doing dishes or putting in any effort tonight. So there.” I stuck my tongue out at her. 

She laughed, and nodded her head. “Touché, touché.” We polished off our food and quickly disposed of the plastic plates. Seeing how late it was, Shanna probably needed to head back home. 

We walked towards the apartment lobby, and once we reach there, Shanna asked, “So… what did you and Chris talk about? I was going to ask earlier, but it must have slipped my mind from everything we did today.” 

I chuckled, and shook my head. “I was hoping that you had forgotten about that. Anyway, long-story short, I told him about the whole arranged marriage deal, and we decided that we could just be friends.” 

Shanna gave a big snort, and started laughing. “Naina, I generally try really hard not to interfere with my brother’s tumultuous personal life, but Chris… to put it mildly… is a huge flirt. Moreso than the average man. I’m just warning you; he never knows how to only be friends.”

Raising my eyebrows, I smiled mirthfully, “I’ll keep that in mind. Hey, thanks again, Shanna, really. I honestly couldn’t have done all of the shopping and unpacking alone.”

She gave me a big hug. “Don’t worry about it, let me know if you need anything else.” 

We said our goodbyes, and she turned away to head to her car, and I walked back to my apartment room, still thinking about Shanna’s words regarding Chris and my “friendship.”

The next day, I helped Ananth finish his enrollment process at his new school, and help him move into his room, promising that I’d be back sometime on Friday to pick up him, if he wanted to come and stay at the apartment for the weekend. In that moment, my brother aged backwards and became the small baby that I remember from my own childhood. I’m pretty sure we both teared up a bit afterwards. 

Collecting myself, I drove back to my now quiet and empty apartment. I tried to prepare for the next day since I would start my residency at MassGen this week. 

I did some last-minute cleaning, laundry, cooking, and finally, finally finished my unpacking. I knew that I wouldn’t have any time to do household chores this week since I’d be trying to get used to the erratic residency shifts. 

I put out all the things I would need for the orientation and first shift into my backpack, and went through the motions of what I had to do tomorrow morning. I even triple-check Google Maps and drove the route once to make sure that I’ll arrive on time. 

None of that over-preparation was helping my anxiety and stress about the next morning, though. 

Suddenly my phone buzzed from my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw Shanna’s text that she sent 30 minutes ago, wishing me luck for tomorrow. Smiling, I texted her back wishing her luck for her new school year, teaching art to her elementary school munchkins. 

Before going to bed that night, I saw that I had another notification. From an unknown number. Hmmm, that’s weird. I wasn’t really expecting any texts from anyone. Confused, I swiped to see the message pop up on my screen.

It was from Chris, wishing me luck for my beginning of my residency tomorrow. Oh, right, I’d forgotten that we had said we’d be friends. I wondered how he got my number; Shanna probably surreptitiously slipped him it to him at some point. 

I texted him back, thanking him for his good wishes, and fell asleep after some tossing and turning, not able to get Chris’ message out of my thoughts. 

That week was so stressful and tiring that all types of thoughts similar to the ones that kept me up last night were pushed to the back of my mind. I didn’t dwell on him at all, since I was barely able to make it from the hospital to my apartment without falling over in exhaustion. 

I somehow make it through the first two weeks without any major hiccups, and most of my fellow residents and attendings seemed to like me. Or at least not have any major issues with me. I’d still have to become friendly with the nurses though, since they were the ones with the most hands-on information regarding all the patients. 

That weekend, I drove to Ananth’s school to give him his laundered clothing and some food for the upcoming week. We then had lunch together in a nearby burger place. Since I was still a pretty underpaid medical resident, I couldn’t afford to splurge on luxurious restaurants.

In between bites of his burger, Ananth asked me, “So, Akka, any plans for your birthday next weekend?” 

Mid-bite, I stopped eating my chicken sandwich. “Oh damn, I completely forgot that it’s coming up.”

“Oh good, then I don’t have to feel bad about not getting you anything,” he chuckled. I immediately slugged him in the arm. What a douche. 

He continued, “I’m kidding, your present is coming in the mail- Meera Akka and I both pitched in, just saying. So now we’re both off the hook,” he gave me a big wink and then proceeded to disgustingly devour his French fries. Ugh, why couldn’t teenage boys eat like civilized human beings?

I dropped him back to school, reminding him to study well and call me if he needed anything. He nodded solemnly, keeping a brave face as usual, but he was a big baby on the inside. 

The next week also passes without many problems, as I settled into a routine even with my hectic and unpredictable hours. The only immovable things in my life became Shanna, who would constantly text me every day to keep in touch and make sure I hadn’t completely died of exhaustion. And Ananth, who I visited every week like a dutiful sister with an armful of cleaned laundry and freshly made Konkani food. And thoughts about Chris that intermittently popped up whenever I wasn’t working or sleeping.

The day of my birthday, in mid-September, I had just finished an extra-long 24 hour shift that ended in the wee hours of the morning. Fatigued, I was thankful that I had two days off after that. 

On the drive back to my apartment, my phone suddenly started ringing in the car, and my mother’s voice erupted through the car speakers. “Naina, you there?” 

“Yeah, Amma” I mumbled. My mother never said hello on the phone, she just assumed that I’d be there for her to bitch to or gossip to, depending on what her mood was. 

“Ehh…?” she almost shrieked into the phone, making me jump and almost hit the car in front of me. Thank fucking god that didn’t happen- I didn’t have the energy or patience to deal with a minor car accident. That too, on a rental car. 

“Fuck, Amma, I’m driving back home after my call- don’t yell into the goddamn phone!” I said loudly, probably loud enough that the adjacent car could hear me through its thrumming hip hop music. 

“Don’t swear at your Amma! Is that what you’re learning in Boston?! Is that why we sent you all the way there?” She screamed at me, making me wince and feel super guilty. She took a deep breath, muttered to herself in Konkani, and continued. “By the way, happy birthday from your father and me. Meera also told me to convey her wishes, she had to leave early to school today. Now, how is your residency going? You know, you really have to do very, very well and be at the top of your residency program-“

I drowned her out as she proceeded to give me what was to become approximately the 500th lecture about how to get a good fellowship. I completely zoned out, focusing and thinking about other things like what I was planning on making for dinner that night and whether I had left the laundry hamper open this morning. Shit, I’m pretty sure I did. Damn it, now the room’s gonna smell of dirty-

Amma’s screeching broke me out of my daze. “Naina! NAINA! I know you are on the line. Krishna, when will you pay attention to me? Anyway, your father is calling for some chai, I have to go now, bye.” Amma hung up as abruptly as she called. 

Jesus, sometimes my parents completely tucker me out. I love them, but still. I finally reached home, and walked into my room to collapse on my bed, scrolling through some of the birthday messages I received from relatives and friends.

I recalled the times when birthdays used to be fun. Now they’re just tiring; I’ll have to text and respond to all of these messages later. I was just about to fall asleep when my stomach growled. And I remembered I hadn’t eaten any non-processed food for the past 20 hours. Fuck. 

I dragged my ass out of bed, and grabbed a turkey sandwich that had been in the fridge. Could’ve tasted better, but I basically gobbled it down. I had to go shopping later for food. And toilet paper. And paper towels.

I quickly jotted down a list of all the things that I had to buy. But first, I needed sleep. I crawled into bed and burrowed myself under the covers. 

Bleary-eyed, I woke up a couple hours when my alarm went off. I lazed in bed, until I saw what time it was. Damn it, I had to run to the store to pick up those things before closing time. Or else I had to starve for tonight. 

My need for sustenance took over, and I quickly drove to the store to pick up whatever I needed emergently for that night. Anything else, I’d just come back tomorrow when I wasn’t half-asleep. 

When I drove back home and walk in through the door, I got the surprise of my life. Well, biggest surprise since I had been in Boston. Shanna was standing near the dining room table with a small cake and Thai basil fried rice- two things we always had for each other’s birthdays during college. 

“How’d you get in?” I questioned her while throwing the perishable foods into the fridge, and the other things into the pantry and nearby closet. 

Yelling from the living room, Shanna said, “You need to really change where you keep the spare key. Have you always been keeping it under the pot near the front door?” 

“If you find a better hiding place, do let me know. Gosh, the cake looks delicious- let’s eat it and lounge on-” 

“Wait, before we go about your lovely plans- I have a surprise for you.” She pulled out my iPad from the drawer, which confused me a bit. She opened up FaceTime, and started to call someone. 

Suddenly, Lisa, Scott, and Carly faces pop up, all dressed and made up. That put a big smile on my face. It was so sweet of them to video-chat me on my birthday. In contrast, my mother yelled at me for telling her that she startled me when driving back home. Then again, she had wishes me, however, nonchalantly.

They all wished me happy birthday, and asked me how Ananth was doing, and how work was going. I answer all their questions, and asked, “Why are you all dressed up tonight? You didn’t have to get so fancy just to wish me!”

They laughed, and Scott replied, “No, we have to go to an event for "Before We Go", you know-“

“Chris’ directorial debut, I know! Speaking of which, where’s the man of the hour?” 

A large hand suddenly reached out, and grabbed the screen, and Chris’ gorgeous face appeared. Whatever I could see of him with his suit on, he looked dapper as hell. 

“Hi, Naina, happy birthday! Hope you’re having fun- you and Shanna are going to go out, right?” 

I laughed, “Hey, thanks, Chris! Good luck with your… your event for your movie, I’m sure everyone will really enjoy it- and the movie! I’ll have to catch it sometime soon. No, we’re probably going to stay inside and hang for a bit- I had a 24 hour shift last night, and I’m still feeling the after-effects.”

“Well, I’ve already left Shanna with some instructions, and-“

I heard Shanna shuffling in the kitchen, so I turned my attention to her, looking away from Chris. “What are you looking for in there? I’m pretty sure I’ve memorized my organizational schematic for all my kitchen cupboards and drawers.” 

“Got it!” She walked back over to me, and placed a brown bag on the table. “Don’t worry I didn’t completely destroy your kitchen. Anyway, since you have the day off tomorrow, me and Chris are making doing two shots, one from each of us, tonight.” She pulled out a small bottle of tequila, and two small shot glasses that she had gifted me senior year. 

“Gahhh, I hate tequila. And my tolerance is most probably shit, considering I’m so small and I haven’t had any hard liquor in about 4 years-“ trying to give excuses to both Chris and Shanna. 

“Since that disastrous dance afterparty! I’ve never seen you that wasted-“

“And as you would remember, my body and I regretted it pretty hard the next morning.” After some more persistence from both Chris and Shanna, I finally gave in. ‘Alright, I’ll do your shots.“ 

I quickly downed the alcohol, feeling it burn down my esophagus. Ugh, why had I agreed to this again? God, I need to work on my standing up to peer-pressure.

“Wait, Shanna, don’t let her get completely drunk- that we’ll do when I’m back in town. I have to give you your-.” He interrupted his thoughts, and turned his back towards us to yell, “Alright, Scott, I’m coming!” He looked back at the screen. “I have to run, Naina, but happy birthday from all of us once again.” 

He promptly ended the call, and I was left holding my iPad, reeling from the experience of talking to Chris face-to-face after our conversation that morning at his house.  
Well, it was still quite nice of his to call for my birthday like that. As a friend. 

Damn it, those butterflies were coming back. Or maybe it was the tequila that I'd regret in the morning. 

My phone suddenly beeped with a text notification. Probably another birthday-related message. But my phone kept beeping as a barrage of texts came through. After checking more closely, all of them were from one number Ananth, and he wouldn’t incessantly text me if it were an emergency. 

Swiping to read the texts, I realized that this was an emergency. My parents were coming to “surprise us” later tonight. Oh. Shit. I had just downed two shots like nobody’s business. FUCK!

I quickly called Ananth, “How the hell did you find out about this?”

“Amma just called me, telling me to be ready in about 2 hours since that’s when they’d be closest to my school. Then, we’re supposed to come to your place, and spend the night there since Dad brought your car up too” 

Running my hands through my hair, “I’m so fucking screwed- I haven’t cooked any Indian food- all I have in the fridge is leftover pasta-, I haven’t really cleaned or laundered the sheets, and I just had some hard liquor with Shanna. So yeah.” 

My jerk brother started laughing at me. “Akka, you’re going to get shit on so hard by Amma and Dad tonight.” 

“Don’t remind me, asshole- I’m pretty sure just that thought alone sobered me up. Do me a favor- just text me when they text you- keep me updated?” 

“Alright, bye, Akka!” he said in a sing-songy voice. That little shit.

Shanna and I went onto overdrive, with her cleaning and throwing in the laundry, while I cooked a simple vegetarian Konkani dinner for my traditional parents. I also changed into black jeans and a blouse my mother had given me from India a couple of years ago- the latter I wore in a last ditch effort to impress her.

I also ate a very large turkey sandwich and gulped down about a gallon of water so I wouldn’t be too tipsy. I hadn’t had that much tequila, so hopefully I’d be fine.

Those two hours flew by, and we had just finished all that needed to be completed when the doorbell rang. Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I ran to answer, not wanting to keep my parents too long. Breathe, Naina, you can get through the interrogation/approval session. 

Turns out I was wrong. 

“Naina, why’d you take so long to answer the door? Here, take these curry leaves plants- you can save money from buying them in the grocery store and grow your own. And this jasmine plant and bamboo tree- keep it by the door for good luck.” Amma shuffled inside, throwing her coat into my arms and the plants into Ananth’s. We look at each other and silently cry in tandem about how we are both in for a long night. 

Continuing, while she slipped off her shoes, she said, “God, parking is so horrible in this area, and driving. Make sure you take care when driving, these Bostonians are-“ Her eyes fell on Shanna, and a large smile graced her face.

“Shanna! My darling, how are you? Still into teaching?” 

My mother literally loved Shanna. Probably because she wasn’t her “disappointing uncultured daughter”. She would just love the party animal that Shanna could become with some alcohol. If she only knew that I had done shots just before they arrived…

Leaving my mother and Shanna to catch up, I turned to my father. He looked the same, and he pulled me into a hug, wishing me a happy birthday. He was pretty critical of me, but much less so than my mother. 

Suddenly, he pushed me away, and asked, “Why does it smell like alcohol in here?”

Shanna and I look at each other, and I quickly thought of a pretty stupid excuse- “Yeah, apparently the previous tenants were big, big wine connoisseurs so we were trying to find a way to get rid of the stench-“ 

“-that strong, disgusting odor-“ Shanna added helpfully. 

Amma cringed.“These Americans, always drinking themselves silly! That happened in our first apartment too.” My mother started to offer me some cleaning about alcohol smells, and Shanna took that as her indication to leave and escape my crazy parents. 

She said goodbye to everyone, and after we walked to the front door, she hugged me, pity glistening in her eyes. “Good luck, let me know how it goes tomorrow.” 

“Will do, if I survive tonight.” Watching her walk away to the lobby, I turned back to my parents, and took a deep breath. If you can get through medical school, you can face your parents.

They were lounging on the couch, talking about the merits of buying this particular apartment, complementing the furniture they chose. Yep, they’d chosen the apartment and furniture for their eldest daughter’s apartment and had final approval in all those matters. 

My parents started the interrogation session- quizzing me about my residency, asking all sorts of questions, and keep comparing my experience to their own residencies- except they started working as doctors some 20 years ago. They then spent the entire evening nit-picking about other things in the apartment. 

My father said, “You should take down these childish decorations, Naina-“ in reference to my wall memorabilia, posters and such, from Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, but I immediately tuned him out. No way in hell, I’d won those fair and square off of that bidding war on eBay.

When my parents have finished scanning the entire apartment, she said, “Where is the temple with the deities I’d given you? I have to put the holy basil near there.”  
I inhaled sharply. Fuck. Now, I was not only a bad daughter, but also a bad Hindu. 

Smacking her hand to her head, my mother yelled, “Naina, everything I tell you to do, you do it wrong! Such an inauspicious beginning to your stay here- you need to keep being reminded of such things? How have you been praying for the past days? Anyway, I’ll fix it tomorrow, go set out the food.”

Then, after I had served dinner, my mother, who hadn’t offered to help with anything, made snide remarks throughout the meal about the over-seasoning of salt, how I’d wasted too many curry leaves in the dishes, and how I’d decided not to put enough turmeric or coriander in the food. 

I’m assuming my brother still liked it because he wolfed down everything on his plate. 

I then cleaned up and made some chai. That probably indicated to my mother that she’d have my full attention now. 

So she started her lecture, sipping on her tea, “I’ve failed your grandparents when I promised to instill our culture, values, and traditions into my children while we stayed abroad. Ananth doesn’t speak Konkani anymore, and your Konkani is so very poor. You don’t even do the things I tell you to do anymore- forgetting to set up the temple!” 

Ananth and I both looked at each other and rolled our eyes at Amma’s usual melodrama and emotional blackmail. 

Continuing, she cried, “I tell you, if you’d stayed at home to do your residency, you’d have perfected the art of Konkani cooking. I don’t know a single woman would marry their son off to a girl who can’t even make round chappatis, properly season her food, or cook a proper Konkani dinner. Or make a good, hot cup of chai for her in-laws.” 

While she waxed on and on about my failings, I made a note of what I had to prepare and cook for breakfast tomorrow to impress my passive-aggressive mother before they left for the long-drive back. Maybe her mood would be slightly better tomorrow morning after a good night’s sleep.

Once Dad and Amma finished their chai, they left their tea cups on the coffee table. “Naina, your father and I will take your room, and you and Ananth can sleep in the guest room.” 

“Yes, Amma,” I said, in a dutiful, obedient manner, placing their things in the room. Obviously she would hijack my room with my very expensive and comfortable mattress for herself without asking. 

Once, my parents went to bed, I cleaned up the coffee table, and started to prepare the things that I needed for tommorow’s breakfast while Ananth sat at the dining room table, doing his English readings. We shared a camaraderie while slaving over things done to uphold our parent’s high expectations of their children. 

It was going to be a long morning tomorrow, I sighed. 

And…. My prediction was pretty on point. 

In the morning, following my mother setting up a small temple in the living room, I prepared the authentic Konkani breakfast my mother was expecting. Although, it obviously didn’t live up to her sky-high hopes. My Indian dosa crepes weren’t quite “crisp” enough due to an improper prepared batter and apparently looked more like pancakes. Also, my chai wasn’t “fresh” enough even though I had prepared it just 5 minutes before. I resigned myself to her constant criticisms last night, so this morning I didn’t feel too terrible. 

All during breakfast, it was my brother’s turn to be on the hot seat, while my father constantly expressed his worries about how my straight-A- student brother was focusing on school and a discussion on whether Harvard or Yale would be better for him as a prospective lawyer. 

Later on, they hugged and kissed us goodbye, so they could make the long drive back to Maryland. My father had already lugged their suitcase down to the car, and was making a couple work-related phone calls while waiting for my mother to come downstairs. 

Before she could leave, my mother turned to me and said, “Oh, by the way, Naina, you remember Nina Aunty from back home? Your friend Neha’s mother? Apparently her cousin’s son is here in Cambridge, completing his Masters in electrical engineering from MIT. I’ve told her to inform him that you’ll be having a housewarming party on Saturday evening- you can invite Shanna and her family. So he’ll be in touch soon to get all the details set up. Don’t even think about not meeting him- Nina will be in touch with me if he ends up liking you. Love you!” 

With a swish of her long braid, she left me at my door, gawping at the hosting a party, all for this MIT dude to come and approve of me.

Well, this Saturday was going to be a lot of fun.

Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naina's Birthday/Meet her Parents Outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/nainas_birthday_parents_visit/set?id=187542405
> 
> The temple that Naina's mother sets up in the apartment: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/e1/04/f9/e104f96bbd742d420cda039c39f1f0f6.jpg
> 
> The Indian crepes (dosas) that Naina prepares for breakfast- they're super delicious :)  
> http://www.aayisrecipes.com/breakfast-or-snacks/masala-dosa/


	7. Chapter Seven

I’m totally catering for the next party, I told myself after spilling some curry from the pot onto the kitchen countertop for the third time.

“Something smells good, Akka!” Ananth walked into my apartment, pocketing his key and slugging off his enormous backpack. He headed straight for the kitchen, hunting for food to feed his insatiable appetite, and immediately unplugged my phone from the speakers so that he could play his Spotify playlist aloud. What an ass.

“How’d you get here? I thought you’d call me to come get you.“ I stirred the curry in the pot on the stove.

Wiping my hands on my apron, I started to place all the food into the fridge since the dinner would only be served a couple hours later.

“I took the T since I had band practice today so I had to stay a bit longer, but I knew you’d be slaving in the kitchen so I didn’t want to bother you. By the way, I brought the sweets you needed from the Indian food market near the school.” He placed a large and a fairly heavy container on the countertop.

“You’re the best- keep them in the fridge- and don’t you dare try to eat too much of everything. Just try a bit of each dish.“ I told him while I washed some of the used pots and pans.

Opening the fridge, his mouth dropped open, hunger gleaming in his eyes. “Wow, there’s so much food- what did Amma tell you to-“

I interrupted him, and systematically listed off various Konkani dishes that my mother had instructed me to make. She had told me that her advice was given only because this was my first housewarming party.

However, I’m pretty sure her ulterior motive was to prove to Sumit (Guy #1) that I could adequately cook him Konkani food so that he wouldn’t starve to death if we got married.

Ananth tried all the dishes and said they were pretty similar to what Amma makes. I silently prayed to the gods that Ananth’s taste buds wouldn’t let me down.

And since Sumit would most probably going to spill the beans to his gossiping female relatives about me, I had put my best hosting and culinary skills forward. My parents would absolutely abhor if the Prabhu family got a bad name in the Konkani match-making community.

According to them, I’d not only screw myself over, but then trying to find a match for my sister who’s only four years younger than me would be difficult. And my parents would definitely murder me.

The doorbell suddenly pulled me out of my thoughts, and I yelled for my brother to go answer it. I heard Shanna’s voice, which was to be expected since she had told me that she’d come early to help. Then, I heard a much lower-pitched voice that definitely belonged to a man. Who had she brought with her?

My questions were all answered as she walked through the door followed by Chris. Oh god, he looked really good in his black sweater and jeans that hugged his body quite well. The smell of the coconut reached my nose and broke me out of my thoughts about Chris before they could become NSFW.

Shanna had to go pick up some cookies that she’d ordered from her favorite bakery nearby. She hugged me, saying she’d be back in some time, and promptly left Chris and me alone in the kitchen.

If she’d done that on purpose so that we’d be alone, I’d actually murder her. Control, Naina, he is in your domain now. You have power over him!

“Well, you do have power over me- more than you think you do,” he said boldly. Shit, had I said that last part aloud?! God I’m such an idiot,; a tired idiot considering I had stayed a bit later at the hospital the previous night.  
Continuing, he said, “Your apartment is great, by the way. Did Shanna help you set everything?”

I smiled, and replied, “Well, most of the larger things anyway. Some things I already had before, some things my parents brought from Maryland- I could show you around if you like.“

The kitchen was pretty small and cramped, and I’d chained myself to the stove as soon as I came back from work so I could cook everything in time. Plus I needed to get some distance away from Chris. And take deep breaths while I was at it.

Going over the window, I plucked a couple of fresh curry leaves off of the plant and put them into the pot while the curry simmered.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“There’s not too much to see, I guess, since it’s a pretty small apartment. There’s just two bedrooms, one bathroom, the living room, and the kitchen which you’ve already seen.” I spoke to Chris as I walked in front of him, gesturing to the rooms as I mentioned them.

“I think Ananth is doing some readings in the guest room, he apparently has some book review to turn in by tomorrow afternoon. We can go into my bedroom- I mean the other room-“, not wanting to give him any ideas. Our relationship was based on friendship only and would stay that way.

He walked around, admiring some of my nerd memorabilia that my mother had berated me for still keeping, and at down on the mattress, and patted the bed, inviting me to sit next to him.

“You have to tell me where you got this mattress, Naina! It’s so goddamn comfortable; I want to sleep on this forever,” he said while reclining on the bed.

Still sitting upright, I scooted my way back so that I could use my husband pillow that was resting on the headboard. I exclaimed with pride, “You’re welcome to come try it out at any time. Yep, this is my little baby. Coming back to a comfortable bed is like the best feeling in the world. And it’s comfortable for relaxing and Netflix binging and all sorts of other activities.”

I turned to look down at Chris who was smiling at me while his blue eyes filled with amusement and some other unreadable emotion when I heard the doorbell.

“That must be Shanna, I’ll go get it.” I bolted away from him, and Shanna walked in and placed a box filled with cookies on the counter.

“Are you making coconut curry again?” she asked, sniffing the air.

“Oh shit, yeah, I have to go see whether it’s finished. I’ve let it simmer for quite some time now. Can you go run a Clorox wipe over the dining table? People should be coming in soon, so I want to make sure that everything is cleaned up and ready to go.”

‘So, who’s coming besides Mom and Scott?”

“Well, I had invited Carly and her family, but apparently Miles had a birthday party tonight so she said she’d come by another time. I also had invited some of the other residents in the program, but they either had shifts tonight or weren’t sacrificing their time off to come to a “housewarming party.” So I think it’s you four, Ananth, and….”

“And…” Shanna prompted me, waving for me to continue with an expectant look on her face.

“Well, there’s this guy- Sumit Pai- and he’ll be coming too“ I said uneasily.

“And this is… guy numero 1? Like pre-approved by your parents?”

“Yep, yep.” I sighed. “I’m very nervous. Not sure how this is going to go, I haven’t even seen his picture since he’s not on Facebook or anything.”

I walked into the kitchen, and after checking the curry, I shut the stove off, and took a deep breath.

“I’m having a deja-vu moment right now” Chris’s deep voice came from beside me.

“Hmmmm…. Wonder why?” I sarcastically retort, shaking my head.

I took a spoon, filled with the curry, to do a quick taste test because my mother would most definitely hear about my culinary skills from Sumit’s family and then proceed to give me another lecture.

I was lifting the spoon to my mouth when I spotted Chris basically salivating. He looked like a puppy wagging his tongue.

I laughed at the thought, and gave him the spoon. He tasted the curry, and let out this obscene moan that almost made me faint. Holy. Shit.

“I’m so glad you like it, Chris, and that it made you completely speechless.” I turned away from him as I blushed, fiddling with the container that I put the curry in. Just so I could avoid looking at his face.

Shanna then walked into the kitchen and looked at me quizzically. “Naina… don’t you have to get ready? Not that you don’t look good now, but-“

“Oh shit, completely forgot about that! Yeah, gotta go fix myself up, can you-“

“I’ll take care of the clean-up, don’t worry. Let me know if you need help.” She said while cleaning off my cutting board.

“Yep, I’ll call you to check my outfit and makeup in a minute. God, I’m getting so nervous…” I trailed off, running to my bedroom, and left Shanna and Chris in the kitchen where they were talking about God knows what.

Throwing off my over-sized “intense cooking” clothing, I slipped into my red kurta tunic top with white leggings, and ran to the bathroom to do my usual makeup routine, putting on slightly more than usual.

I also undid my braid that I had put my hair in, shaking my head and running my fingers through it.

“How do I look?”, giving a small twirl for Shanna after slipping on a pair of heels to give me some height since I wasn’t sure how tall Sumit was.

“You look lovely, Naina! Is this new? I love the embroidery...” she cooed over me while I flushed from her compliments.

“Thank you. Amma micro-managed and planned this entire evening, all down to this outfit. Let me just make sure I can put the appetizers on the table- Scott and Lisa will be here soon right?”

Shanna then informed me that they’d be there for dinner- apparently they were running some errands before coming here. Good, the evening looks like it’s going on track. Breathe, Naina, you got this!

I then went to go straighten up the apartment before Sumit got here. Chris, who was lounging in the living room, gave me a smile when I walked in, and said, “You look beautiful, Naina,” his eyes twinkling.

Shanna and Chris helped me put out some of the initial appetizers on the table, even though there were only 8 people who were going to be there. Suddenly the doorbell rang, and I made my way to the door.

I got on my tip-toes to look through the peep-hole.

I opened the door, and tepidly stated, “Hi… um, you must be Sumit?”

Sumit looked up from his phone, and smiled with lukewarm enthusiasm. “Hi. Naina, right?”

“Yeah, why don’t you come in?” I took his coat from him, and directed him to the living room.

I hung it up, and shook my head to clear my thoughts. Relax, Naina, if Amma and Dad like him, he must be at least somewhat capable of maybe being your future husband. Or not, depending on how much he likes you at the end of tonight.

When I made my way into the living room, I could actually feel the awkwardness and tension permeating the air that I was breathing. Oh lord, give me strength.

I took a closer look at him- he wasn’t too bad-looking- and he seemed pretty alright. I then introduced him to Shanna and Chris, who both looked completely at home, and that made Sumit stick out like a sore thumb.

Shanna quickly excused herself to go check on where Lisa and Scott were, and that left Chris and me with Sumit, who looked slightly uncomfortable. OK, maybe I was under-exaggerating. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Chris was still sitting in the room, smirking the entire time. Probably because of how awkward Sumit and I were, just sitting across from each other in silence and avoiding eye contact.

And thank goodness Ananth came in right there.

“Ahh, Ananth! Good you came at the perfect moment- meet Sumit! He’s doing his Masters at MIT in electrical engineering. Sumit, this is my younger brother, Ananth. He goes to school nearby.”

Ananth greeted his maybe-future-brother-in-law, and then awkwardly asked Chris to come into the guest bedroom, where he had stored a lot of his prized possessions that he didn’t want to keep in school, to autograph some of his geeky comic book memorabilia.  
Thank Jesus, cause I couldn’t concentrate on getting to know Sumit when Chris was sitting in the same fucking room.

In an effort to make him feel welcome and because the silence was hurting my soul, I said, “Sumit, why don’t you try some of the samosas- I’d heard it was one of your favorite dishes. “

“Yes, thank you,” he stammered and clumsily piled samosas onto his plate. Aww, he’s a stress eater! We’d have that in common.

He then spoke to me. “Naina, my mother tells me that you’re a doctor at MassGen?”

I replied, “Yeah, I’m a resident in the pediatric program. It’s stressful… but it’ll be worth it. You’re a grad student at MIT, right? What are you studying right now?” eagerly trying to get Sumit to talk, so I wouldn't have to, which probably didn’t bode well for the future of our relationship.

He then started animatedly talking all about what he’s doing at MIT- his research lab, his post-doctoral advisor, his part-time job as a TA for the undergrads. We talked for a while, connecting on our mutual love and respect for the sciences.  
He even offered to show Ananth and I around campus, his lab area, and the Boston area in general. Things were looking pretty good with him- at least Amma will get off my back for the time being about meeting more boys if we can date for a bit.

Smiling, I excused myself to get the dinner ready. This wasn’t going as badly as I thought it would.

“Wonder where our brothers disappeared off to?” Shanna said as we I cleaned up some of the appetizers.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” I retorted, hoping that Ananth at least was keeping himself out of trouble.

And lo and behold, Chris and Ananth were sitting in the kitchen on the dining table, basically inhaling the food and sweets that I couldn’t refrigerate and had kept outside.

“I guess boys will always be boys,” I muttered under my breath. I went to the fridge, and began taking out the food to reheat and place on the table.

While we were heating up all the dishes, Shanna asked, “So how’d you like Sumit? He seems pretty nice.” I don’t know if I just imagined this, but Chris seemed to be paying less attention to Ananth’s blabbing on about the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” and listening in on our conversation.

Leaning against the countertop, I answered, “He’s a really nice guy- a little quiet, very nerdy when he talks about his work at MIT- but… I could make something work. We have our love for sciences in common.”

“I know you, Naina, you must have already started planning the Indian wedding and how many brilliant, science-loving babies you’ll be having,” she laughed, teasing me and making me flush red. Chris let out a small cough, but Shanna ignored it and continued.

“By the way, tell me, does he like dancing? I still remember that was on your list of things about a guy that turns you on,” Shanna chuckled, waggling her eyebrows.

“I don’t quite know- maybe we’ll go clubbing on the second date!” I replied cheekily, before the microwave buzzed with the last of the food. We placed all the food on the dining table after kicking our brothers out of the room.

After we finished, I called out to my brother, “Ananth, come set the table, please! For seven people; use the good silverware that Amma gave.”

“Gaaahhh, Akka- why?“ he groaned.

“Just go do it, alright,” pulling out my “I’m-older- than- you- so -I’m –your- overlord” card. He finally relented and went to the kitchen, leaving Chris and I alone in the guest room.

“You have to teach me how you do that so I can make Scott and Shanna do whatever I want them to,” he said while smirking.

“Well, I would, but then I’d be betraying my ex-college roommate… And I’ve known her longer than I’ve known you.” I joked with him, trying to make us being alone in a room together less awkward.

His cute little mouth formed a pout, making him look even more like a puppy than he already did. “True, but I’ve known you for longer than you think, and we are friends, Naina. As an… initiation ritual, per se, I want you to… enlighten me... about how you control your siblings.” 

Laughing, I gave him a light shove. “Alright, but first come and eat dinner. I heard Lisa and Scott come through the door, so we can start. I’m starving since I had to cook food without being able to eat anything!”

We walked to the living room where I greeted Scott and Lisa, who both immediately pulled me into hugs.

Shanna herded us all to the dinner table. “Before we start the conversation going here, let’s start eating, otherwise we’ll all just keep talking forever!”

“We wouldn’t want Naina’s absolutely delicious coconut curry to go to waste, now would we?” Chris clapped me on the shoulders, slightly massaging them in the process. His presence reassured me- at least one person would like the food- and simultaneously made my knees turn into jelly.

We started to eat, and a comfortable rapport was established that lasted for some time.

Lisa said, “Goodness, Naina, the food is delicious! You must give me the recipes, especially for the coconut curry! Chris couldn’t stop raving about it after he had some-“

“Ma, stop!” Chris chuckled, trying to brush off his embarrassment.

I laughed, and asked, “So… how was Toronto? You all looked like you had a lot of fun- both in the photos online and what Shanna showed me!”

Lisa, Chris, and Scott unleashed a tornado of information at me- all about the people they met, the events they went to. Gosh, their enthusiasm was so infectious!

“You know, I’ve always wanted to go to a film festival like TIFF, and never had the chance- what other stuff goes on there?”

Chris enthusiastically responded, “Oh yeah, I’ve been a couple times to TIFF- with “Iceman” and now “Before We Go”- there’s so many good movies that premiere there.“ We discussed the various movies that he had seen at TIFF in the past year, and I had heard of a couple because of some of the news coverage.

We were having a great conversation, and I could really see Chris and I becoming fast friends soon. Talking to him was like talking to a male Shanna; albeit he was male, taller, and much more handsome.

Ananth, who had such terrible FOMO, butted in. “Chris- you should take Akka with you to one of them- she used to be obsessed with films and TV in high school before she had all that studying to do for college prep-“

I punched him in the arm before he could reveal any other things about me during those awkward, dark and embarrassing pubescent years. Ugh, I never want to think about high-school Naina again.

“Sumit, are you a big film fan?” trying to include my quiet “date” in the ongoing conversation at the table.

“Not particularly, I’ve always been more interested in reading.”

“What types of books? Whenever Chris doesn’t have a script in his hand, he’s always reading novels and the like.” Lisa was talking a lot about Chris- wonder why, I mused.

“Not really- I always like more technical readings as opposed to fiction.”

That tangent caused the earlier carefree and airy conversation to significantly lull even with my overt attempts to try to be a good hostess.

Once everyone had finished, I placed all the dishes and silverware in the sink, procrastinating on any actual cleaning work.

Shanna helped me bring out the dessert onto the table, but while I was setting that up, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Beaming when I turned around to see that it was Sumit, my smile slid off my face slowly when I saw him looking very conflicted about something.

“Naina… do you think I could talk to you for a moment?” looking over at Shanna, presumably because he wanted some privacy.

Getting the hint, she said, “I’ll be in the next room if you need anything, Naina, anything at all,” putting an emphasis on the last part of her sentence while patting me on the elbow.

“Would you like to… sit down?” offering him a seat at the table. We sat in awkward silence for a minute.

Sumit started to speak. “Naina, I... I really like you. You’re smart, pretty, a great cook and hostess, and we had a good conversation initially- everything I’d want in a wife. But then… you- you completely ignored me and talked to….to…”

“Chris?” I supplied, still awestruck that he thought I had ignored him. I had tried so terribly hard to make him feel welcome, but I guess my efforts fell short somewhere. More than anything, I was afraid of what he’d tell his mother, and by extension, Amma.

“Yes, him. With what I saw afterwards, I... I simply don’t think we… would work out, you know?”

“No,no, I completely understand. Will you at least stay for dessert? The jalebis and other sweets are fantastic… at least according to Ananth” I halfheartedly replied.

He curtly stated, “I think it’ll be better if I just leave now. Please give my regards to the Evanses, and you can just inform them that something emergently came up at the lab so I had to leave without too much prior warning.”  
“Oh. Of course. I’ll walk you to the door, then.” I awkwardly respond, wringing my hands.

Opening it and walking through, he paused, and turned around. “It was very nice to meet you, Naina. I hope you know I truly, truly mean that. And don’t worry, I’ll just tell my mother that we didn’t really connect- I’ll make sure she doesn’t make too big of a deal about it.”

I smiled. Even though we hadn’t clicked apparently as much as I had deluded myself into thinking earlier, he was a good guy.

“Bye, Sumit,” I said, shaking his hand. “Same here- truly- and good luck with everything, including this whole marriage process- I know it can be difficult at times. Hopefully we will both find… good Konkanis to settle down with.”  
For some reason, I found it difficult to muster up a smile at that thought.

He left promptly, and I closed the door, and took a deep breath. The thought of going through multiple more of these “dates” made my heart ache terribly. And my head hurt.

Popping some Motrin from the bathroom cabinet, I then went to the living room.

Forcing a smile onto my face and enthusiasm into my voice, I said, “Hey guys, apparently Sumit had to leave because of some lab emergency, but there’s some dessert on the table! Help yourselves to whatever suits your fancy.”

Pretty sure no one bought my excuse, but, hey, I tried. And nobody questioned me further about him, so that was another plus.

Once everyone had eaten dessert, Lisa and Scott left, saying that they both had early morning appointments. I thanked them for coming and even though Lisa tried to refuse, I told them that I’d send some leftovers over with Shanna.

So now it was only Chris, Shanna, and me because Ananth had left to crash in his room right after dessert since he had a very long day. I completely sympathized with him; it had been a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. Or maybe I was exaggerated slightly.

Turning to both of them, I said, “You guys up for hanging out? I have more sweets as bribes; I know you guys loved them!”

Shanna chuckled and said, “I’d love to, but I’m terribly behind in creating lesson plans this year so I need to wake up early and finish that up tomorrow. You know that’s one thing I can’t procrastinate, Naina, don’t give me that look! I’ll head out now, but I’ll call tomorrow morning.”

I knew that she’d interrogate me about Sumit in the morning, so that was something I had to look forward to.

“Anyway, take some of the leftovers with you. I’ve already packed you some stuff, eat them in the next couple days!” I produced a large brown bag filled with food. “Anyway, with the residency, I’m often not at home to eat good food, so it shouldn’t go to waste.”

“You’re the best, sweetie! Chris has nothing important to do tomorrow, so he’ll stay and give you company- we anyway came in separate cars. I’ll go now, before it gets too late, bye, Naina!” Kissing me on the cheek, she pranced out of the door, which made me chuckle.

Until I realized that this was the first time Chris and I would be spending extensive amounts of time alone.

In a last-minute avoidance technique, I told him, “Look, Chris… you must be tired, you can leave if you want, I don’t want to keep you hostage because Shanna said so.”

Laughing, he responded, “No, no, Naina. You’re not getting off the hook that easily. You do realize that we haven’t actually hung out as friends besides- well, never-mind,” ignoring our dalliance in the forest, probably to make me feel less uncomfortable.

“So, when’s a better time to start?” he walked to the living room, made himself comfortable on the couch.

I brought some blankets over along with two wine glasses, filled with some sangria.

“I completely forgot to serve the alcohol that I’d kept in the fridge. Ananth must have shoved things around and pushed it to the back, and I completely forgot about it with all the other things that were in there.”

Chris said, “So… now that we’re comfortable on the couch, what do you want to do?”

“Well, since you’re the Hollywood actor, I was hoping that you could recommend something to watch? I’m terribly behind with my pop culture knowledge.”

“Let’s see then…” He took the iPad from me, and started to scroll through all the shows and movies. “Interesting, you watch more movies than TV?”

Faking defensiveness, I said, “Hey, with TV, I can sit down and just watch 45 minutes at a time. You really have to commit to those hour-an-and-half or two-hour movies.”

“OK, you have a point. But if you end up binging you’re totally screwed.” He had a point there. 

“The only show that I came close to doing that was “Game of Thrones”, but I withheld that temptation. It was probably a good thing in the long run- binging that show would’ve fucked me up.”

“Wait up- “Breaking Bad” is on your watch list....” He looked at me, in a puzzled and shocked manner.

Taking a big gulp of wine, I responded, “Yeah, I never quite got around to watching it. Everyone was raving about it, so I bookmarked it for future-“

Scoffing, Chris said, “OK, but you haven’t seen one of the best shows of the twenty-first century! Naina, we have to catch you up to all the stuff you missed…”

Laughing, I retorted, “I already told you I was behind! Wait, what’s the plot of the show again? I remember it’s about a chemistry teacher cooking meth…”

Excitedly, Chris began to explain the pretty weird plot of Breaking Bad involving a cancer-stricken high-school chemistry teacher who makes meth with the local underachiever and becomes a drug lord.

“Well, that sounds intense… I don’t know…,” still trying to process all the information Chris threw at me.

“You’ll love it, Naina, just watch.” He said as we started the first episode, and settled comfortably into the couch, sitting close enough to each other that I could feel his body heat while he put his arm around me.

This was nice way to spend time as friends, I thought, as I burrowed deeper into my cocoon of blankets and Chris.

Suddenly, I heard my phone ring from the coffee table. That’s weird; wonder whose calling me this late into the night. Pulling it out, I sighed when I saw my mother’s face and number pop up on the screen.

Mumbling to Chris, I groaned while swiping to answer, “God, Amma is going to kill me….”

Copyright © 2016 chuckle123. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of chuckle123.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter was slightly longer than usual. Please, please feel free to leave feedback/your thoughts about this chapter!
> 
> Naina’s Indian outfit for the party: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=187893034
> 
> Here are some of the recipes (with pictures) for the food mentioned in the chapter:
> 
> Konkani coconut curry:  
> www.aayisrecipes.com/side-dishes/vegetables-in-coconut-milk-valval
> 
> Samosas- baked pastry with a savory filling:  
> http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/spiced-potato-stuffed-pastries-samosas-recipe.html
> 
> Jalebis- deep-fried wheat flour batter in pretzel or circular shapes that are soaked in sugar syrup:  
> http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/jalebi-recipe-how-to-make-jalebi/


	8. Chapter Eight

“Hey, Amma-“ I began to speak, but then she immediately interrupted me with her screeching, loud voice. Even Chris, who had paused the episode and was actively, bless his soul, trying to give my privacy, slightly winced. 

“What happened with Sumit? His mother just got off the phone with me; she said that the meeting didn’t work out. Did you make all the food I instructed you too? Nina said that those were his favorites. You cleaned the house right and wore the new kurta tunic top I bought for you?“ 

“Amma-“ I was shut down once more.

Continuing, my mother cried, “I know, you must have left your hair down. God, Naina, your curly hair looks so disheveled that way, you probably didn’t put coconut oil in it before washing-“

“I even did that, Amma-“ Nope, my mother was not having any of my justifications. 

My mother still kept ranting. “Did you start talking to him about those stupid… fantasy books that you always have your nose stuck in? Naina, you need to behave more like an adult and have more…. refined tastes!”

“No, Amma, I tried to make him feel welcome, but he said something about us not connecting-“

That shut my mother up immediately. She started muttering under her breath until she turned her attention back to me. 

“What connection? WHAT CONNECTION? You think I felt any sort of connection with your father the first time we met? Our… relationship developed over time, over a couple of meetings. You youngsters need… need that… what is it?” 

“Instant gratification?” I supplied helpfully. Anything to make my mother stop this interrogation session, especially when I could feel Chris intensely gazing at me, trying to figure out what was happening.

“It’s fine, this is only the first boy; I didn’t expect this from the Pai family. But... Nina and Sumit’s mother seemed to understand the situation, so I don’t think they’ll gossip. And if they do, we can defend ourselves, saying that he rejected you. We’ll be fine,“ she mumbled, reasoning aloud. 

I took a deep breath. Thank God my parents weren’t mad at me; otherwise I wouldn’t hear the end of it tonight. 

I then said, “Amma, everything will be fine; no need to become hysterical or anything. There’s no need to increase your blood pressure over this, alright?”

Ignoring me completely, she responded curtly, “But Naina, your father and I will start looking at more boys, alright? You need to get married soon, otherwise both you and Meera will be sitting in my home as spinsters. And I will not have that shame on my family!” She hung up abruptly, leaving me reeling on the other end of the line. 

Groaning, I flopped down onto the sofa and tossed my phone to the side, running my fingers through my “disheveled” hair and mumbling a few Konkani choice words under my breath. 

“Everything alright?” Chris asked, sitting next to me, touching my shoulder. I’m pretty sure he had heard everything that my mother had bellowed into the phone, but it was nice of him to feign ignorance for my sake. 

“Yeah… it’s just this entire process is so damn stressful. The only upside is that I’m not the one looking through the profiles-“ 

Turning the TV off, he turned to me. “OK, so explain more about this… this arranged marriage deal. You explained the basics, but…” 

Laughing, I said, “Your curiosity got the better of you? I know, it’s a weird idea for most people in the West who have love marriages. The most annoying thing is when people just assume that you’re forced into the marriage and it’s only the parents choice. It’s more of similar to…. an online dating service, I guess?”

He looked at me in a confused manner, his brow furrowed. 

I continued, “Like instead of algorithms in some remote server trying to figure out compatibility, parents, friends, relatives all get together to try to make a match. Then, you can add some constraints like caste, socio-economic status- so that there would be commonalities between the suitors. Then everyone would weigh… the options… and pick the best possible person to spend more time with to see if things could potentially work out. If everything seems fine, they get married.” 

“And if it doesn’t work out?” Chris questioned, his piercing eyes looking into the depths of my soul.

Breaking eye contact, I stated, “Then, you move onto the next guy and repeat. Plus, the process has become more… electronic, let’s say. People can put up their profiles and background online to form their bio-data, and many people find matches that way. My parents have told me stories of people passing on their- marriage resumes- so to speak“ making air quotes around the last phrase. 

“And people have been doing this for a while? Or are more people getting into…love marriages?” he asked, understanding dawning on face.

“Yeah, it’s kind of become tradition, and since my parents are living abroad, they feel an even deeper... urge to make sure that we understand the culture and tradition and keep in touch with our roots. It’s not like a forced marriage or anything, it’s just…” trying and failing to find the words. 

“Everyone’s been pre-screened?” Chris spoke mirthfully. 

Chuckling, I responded, “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.” 

“Let’s say, that you do like the guy and you get married. What if you don’t fall in love afterwards?” Chris mumbled. 

I sighed. “ The concept of love in arranged marriages… is quite different. You learn to love your spouse- their likes, dislikes, their quirk- you grow to love and support each other. There’s this quote that says love marriages are like hot cups of chai that grow cold over time; but arranged marriages are cold cups that grow warmer over time. Love marriages are supposedly more rooted in superficial qualities while arranged marriages are based deeper in compatibility between people, at least according to my parents.” 

He sat quietly for a moment, digesting this information. “What if that doesn’t happen? What if you never fall in love?” 

“Better luck in your next life?” I said, wincing about the thought. “I’m kidding, Chris, you just learn to compromise and basically live with a roommate who is never going away,” looking at his horrified face. Why did he always manage to look so cute? 

“I still don’t think I’ll completely understand the concept-“ 

I retorted, “Well, to play Devil’s advocate, I don’t think many people in India completely understand America’s high divorce rate!” 

Chuckling, he responded, “Touché, you got me there.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Naina, Ananth and you simply have to come!” Shanna whined while sitting on my kitchen counter, legs swinging back and forth while munching on an apple. 

I rolled my eyes. “Shanna… you know that I’m working until Friday night. I’m going to be in no mood to drive after a shift. Plus, Ananth has exams and schoolwork-“ 

“I’ll finish it all before the weekend,” he supplied helpfully from the side.

Shanna exclaimed, “Naina, these excuses won’t work with me! Just come on Saturday morning. At least on Scott’s birthday-“ 

“Plus, Akka, it is my birthday that week too! The least we could do is celebrate at Cape Cod,” Ananth said while walking over to Shanna to show their solidarity in the fight to convince me. 

“And now, since Ananth is on my side, you simply have no choice but to succumb to our emotional blackmail.” Shanna gleefully laughed. 

“Fine, fine! Trying to argue with one of you is difficult, but I’m not even going to try to get my way with you both.” I mumbled the last part to myself as I folded some of Ananth’s laundry. 

“Great! So I’ll see you both this weekend. Shit, I gotta run to do errands, bye Naina!” She quickly hugged me and left just as quickly as she had come in. 

The next week passed pretty slowly, especially since Ananth wouldn’t shut up about how excited he was to go to Cape Cod. 

“How much longer, Akka?” Ananth moaned from the reclined passenger’s seat. 

“Hopefully 15 minutes, unless I fucked up the directions. I’m trying to get there as fast as I can so I don’t have to listen to anymore of your complaining-“ 

"Hey! You woke me up at goddamn six in the morning on a Saturday-“ he stated, in an accusing tone.

“Well, we needed to beat weekend traffic! Anyway, we will now make it there in record time, and I’m the one driving, so be quiet and just go to sleep.” I retorted, getting my final word in. 

We finally made it to the vacation home where Shanna, Scott, and Chris were for the weekend. I reached over to shake Ananth awake, but he looked very comfortable sleeping. I'll let him keep sleep in the car- it was much too early in the morning to call Shanna to let us in. 

I guess, I might as well take a small nap too. I reclined my seat, wriggling around to try to make myself comfortable. Except that large Starbucks coffee I grabbed for the ride here made it impossible for me to fall asleep. 

Giving up, I grabbed my shawl, and left Ananth knocked out cold in the car. He wouldn’t be awake for a while since I had interrupted his beauty sleep once earlier in the morning.

I made my way to the shoreline of the beach. It looked absolutely serene in the morning as the sunrise was just about finished.

“The view is nice, isn’t it?” I heard a voice come from beside me, which made me jump in the air. 

“Chris! Jeez, you scared me, give a girl some warning next time.” I clutched my chest, trying to make my heartbeat slow down. 

“It’s not my fault you’re so easily startled,” he said with a chuckle. “How’d you get past those violent scenes in Breaking Bad?” 

I slugged him in the arm, making him laugh. “With a lot of wincing. Thanks for getting me addicted to that show, by the way. I can’t watch anything else now until I finish that up. Anyways, why are you up so early? Shanna told me about your tendencies to sleep in past noon.” 

Weirdly pausing in the middle, he said, “I wanted to… to get up early to see the sunrise. It’s always so beautiful, and it gets me out of my noisy brain. There’s nothing to figure out about it.” 

“I’m getting a sudden sense of déjà vu here,” I said jokingly, in reference to our earlier walk through nature. 

Suddenly, there was a slight chill in the air while the wind picked up, which made the lukewarm temperatures dip even further. I wrapped my shawl tighter around myself. Looking over at Chris, he was in just a wife-beater tank top, that really accentuated his toned upper body, and shorts. 

I hesitated, before opening up my shawl. “Come here, you’ll catch a chill since you’re barely wearing any clothing.” 

He warily looked at me, muttering something under his breath, and I stared at him, “I rarely do this for anyone, so get over here before I change my mind,” laughing near the end. 

We huddled next to each other, and I tried to wrap the ends of the shawl around the both of us. Except I hadn’t packed my super long one. 

“Damn it! This isn’t working. Wait, come around behind me; the shawl should then be long enough for the both of us.” 

I then felt his overwhelming presence envelop me from behind. Handing him my blue shawl, he wrapped it around the both of us, making us nestle closer together than the position we were in before. I wanted to lean back into his toned and tall body so badly that I locked my knees, leaning slightly away from him. Those sorts of wistful thoughts were consuming my mind so I’m pretty sure I had just imagined that his nose skimmed the top of my head. 

We stood there like that for a couple minutes, staring out at the lightly-hued sky and clear water, until my phone ringing broke us apart.

Goddamn it, Ananth. 

“Hello?” I answered, knowing that Ananth was probably losing his shit since I had left him alone. 

“Akka? Where are you? Did you leave me alone to die in the wilderness?”

“This is the goddamn Cape, Ananth, what the hell is the wilderness you speak of? Anyway, come out of the car and bring out our bags out to the house. I’ll be there in a minute.” 

Hanging up the phone, I turned to Chris. “The little sibling calls; I have to meet him at the house.” 

“I’ll walk you there, Shanna would kill me if I didn’t. Let’s take advantage of the déjà vu moment some more.” He offered me his elbow. I just shook my head and laughed. 

We made the short walk over to the house where Ananth and Shanna were waiting for us. 

“Naina, you look tired! Sorry, I know you hate it when people say that, but you look like you're about to fall over. I told you to come later during the day; I don’t want your migraines to get any worse,” Shanna fussed over me as Ananth and I had some toast and jam for a small breakfast. 

“This boy here,” tapping Ananth on the backside of his head, “wouldn’t stop talking up about the trip for the whole week whenever I called him. That I’m sure gave me a bigger migraine than the one I’m having right now. We also managed to avoid any morning traffic, and made it here in record time.”

“Anyway, after you finish eating, go straight up and sleep for some time, I’m afraid you’ll just fall over. Take the couch in my bedroom, it’s very, very comfortable for naps.” 

Judging by the look on her face, I knew it was a pointless endeavor to argue against her. Especially when she became all motherly. “Fine- but don’t let me sleep longer than 2 hours!” 

A sudden wave of sleepiness hit me as I trudged up the staircase and down the hallway to the very last room. Opening the door, I walked in. Ahhh, this is paradise as I sunk into the couch. Pulling a blanket from the closet, I searched the room for an unused pillow but to no avail. 

Giving up, I cocooned myself in the blanket and burrowed deeper into the couch, pretty sure that sleep would swallow me pretty soon.

While I was asleep, I swear I felt someone’s hand near my head, placing a pillow underneath me, but I was so deep in the clutches on sleep that I did not wake. 

It seemed like only a few moments later that I felt someone shaking me, and saying my name. Mumbling and turning over, I moaned “Ananth, unless someone is dying, leave me alone.”

“Well, that would certainly put a dapper on the birthday celebrations…” the deep masculine voice spoke again. Oh, that wasn’t Ananth. 

Bolting up, my head started to spin. “Chris! I’m so sorry! I thought it was Ananth who had come to wake me…” 

Chuckling, Chris responded, “No, he and Scott are downstairs with Shanna; they were in the game room last.” 

“Argh- oh my goodness,” I moaned while rubbing the last remnants of sleep out of my eyes and stretching my limbs out. When I finished my stretching session and began to comb my fingers through my bed hair, Chris had a far-off look in his eyes while he stared at me dumbly.

“What happened?” I asked innocently. He shook his head, and brushed the entire incident off, which confused me. Better not to dwell over such things. I turned my back to Chris and started to straighten out the couch area. 

“I should go and see if Shanna needs any help with anything for later...” I mumbled while avoiding eye contact with him.

We made our way downstairs, and Shanna waved me over. “Naina! Come here- I need some help with cooking this.”

I started to make my way over to Shanna. when Chris grasped my forearm, and pulled me slightly closer. I stiffened immediately, not quite sure what he was about to do. 

He leaned down, pushing my curls behind my ear to whisper cheekily. “You know, I don’t quite understand why you keep mixing me up with your brother. That would make the thoughts that I’ve been having very distasteful and taboo.” 

He let go of my arm and walked out of the room, leaving me standing there in shock, unable to fully comprehend what had just happened.

Shanna came over to me, and basically dragged me to the kitchen so we could start the cooking and the baking for later in the day, which dragged me out of my Chris musings that were starting to become more and more common. 

“OK, now that we finished the cake for tonight, we can relax for a bit,” Shanna said, plopping down on the seat next to me with 2 steaming mugs.

“You were right, you know,” I mumbled while staring into my coffee that needed slightly more sugar. 

“Well, I usually am, but what exactly are you referring to in this particular case?” Shanna confusedly asked, putting down her mug.

Clutching my mug for strength, I answered, “About Chris’s… flirtatious nature. It’s so hard to be just friends when… he says and does… those kinds of things.”

“What kinds of things, Naina?” Shanna teased me even more. I blushed even more red, making her laugh at my embarrassment. 

Continuing, Shanna said, “Well, to be honest, Chris gets pretty close and flirty with a lot of people- that’s just the way his personality is. What you need to do is give him a taste of his own medicine.” 

“How do you mean?” I probed Shanna further. 

“Next time, he’s super flirty- flirt back, bust his chops a little- give him a hard time. Come on, I know you have it in you, deep, deep within you. Live at little, Naina, jeez! You only have so much time to have fun, enjoy!” 

“We’ll see.” I said, simultaneously laughing and shuddering at the thought of trying to flirt. What a joke. 

Later on, in the day, we all went outside to either relax, in my case, or play sports, in everybody else’s case. 

“Hey Akka! Why aren’t you going to play volleyball with us?” Ananth said, twirling the volleyball on one hand while Shanna, Scott, and Chris were setting up the net. 

“HA! Don’t make me laugh! Remember, I have no hand-eye coordination. So I’m just going to sit here and finish this book that I started a couple months ago,” lounging on the sun-chair. 

“Please don’t let her play- she’ll definitely take someone’s head off.” Shanna said with a laugh. “Naina, Ananth, sunscreen?” She tossed it over to Ananth who started slathered it on his body. 

Ananth turned to Shanna, “Can you help me with putting this on my back?” 

While she was doing that, I saw Chris coming towards me. 

“Hey, what’s up?” I said in a confused tone. 

“Could you rub some sunscreen onto my back?” he asked, picking at the label on the bottle. 

“Umm… can’t one of the others do it?” I warily questioned, trying to extract myself out of the delicate situation. 

“From my observation, they are all otherwise occupied,” he said brazenly. 

He continued, “Plus, unlike yourself who has been blessed by the gods with a beautiful brown skin tone,” I interrupted him with a slight gasp as I felt his finger skim the length of my arm, “I am a pasty Bostonian who will most definitely burn to a crisp if left out in the sun for too long. And aren’t doctors obligated to help people in need?” 

Fuck. He put me in a tight spot there.

“Damn that stupid Hippocratic oath,” I muttered under my breath. “Yeah, I guess I can help you.” 

Cracking my knuckles, I squeezed some sunscreen into my hands and rubbed them together. I began applying it on his firm and well-formed back. I could swear Chris’s muscles became looser and more relaxed, but maybe it was because he was crouching slightly to my height. 

Thank goodness there were no tattoos- that would’ve been even more distracting and I would’ve begun tracing them or something. 

“There, all done!” I turned around to sit back down and get engrossed in my novel when Chris asked, “I could put some sunscreen on you, if you want?” he asked hopefully. 

I chuckled to myself. “I’m pretty sure you’d enjoy that.”

“What?” Thankfully, Chris hadn’t heard my little outburst.

“Nothing. Nah, my high melanin count will protect me well, and I’m under the umbrella here. I should be good.” 

“Oh,” his voice deflated, making me smile. 

“Chris! Stop ogling Naina, and let’s get the game started already!” Scott yelled at the both of us, making Chris and I embarrassed. 

They started playing an intense game of volleyball because all I could hear was the sound of the waves against the shoreline which was punctuated with the sound of forearms hitting the volleyball.

Right as the conflicted anti-hero was making his big speech in the novel, I heard Ananth screech my name. That’s strange, I mused, considering I would be the last one that he’d think of in the middle of anything sports-related. 

“Akka, akka, I think Chris is hurt,” he stammered, terror gleaming in his eyes. 

Throwing my novel down, I followed Ananth quickly to where they were playing volleyball. Shanna and Scott were huddled around Chris who was sitting down, cradling his upper arm. 

“What happened?” I crouched down calmly next to Chris, who seemed to be in some pain considering how he was slightly grinding his teeth. 

Shanna exclaimed, “Well, we were kind of goofing off, and Chris threw the ball over the net. But then Scott accidentally shoved him too hard and he fell over on his shoulder.”

I felt around the affected area, muttering to myself, which confirmed my initial suspicions. 

“From what I’ve seen, you have a minor anterior shoulder dislocation, Chris. Shanna, can you grab an ice pack of some sort.” 

I haven’t seen Shanna run like that since those early morning runs she used to drag me on in college to improve my endurance for dance. She came back with the ice pack, and I placed it on Chris’ shoulder. 

“Why don’t we move this lovely party inside? I don’t want to treat a patient on these sandy dunes,” I joked, trying to distract Chris from the pain. 

Once we got inside, I made Scott and Ananth leave so that there wouldn’t be many distractions. So it was just Shanna, Chris, and me in the room.

“OK, so we have some options. Option 1: We can take you to the closest emergency room, and have someone pop it back in there since we’ve iced the shoulder. Until then, we can just give you pain medication. Option 2: I could potentially pop it back in for you; I’ve set multiple shoulder dislocations before, both anterior and posterior.”

Shanna immediately stated, “Chris, just let Naina-“

I calmly interjected, “Shanna, honey; I need to discuss this alone with Chris.” 

Opening her mouth, presumably to argue, she closed it after seeing the look on my face. “Fine, I won’t interrupt your doctor session here. Call for me if you need anything,” she said while walking out of the room. 

Once she left, I turned my attention to Chris. “So, Christopher, do you want me to pop it back in for you? I completely understand if you don’t; you have no obligation to say yes to me. I have absolutely no problem driving you to the nearest ER and waiting for you there while you get your shoulder set back in.” 

He thought about it for a couple of minutes, and said shakily. “Yeah, I’m fine with you doing it. I trust you, Naina.” He said the last phrase, looking deep into my eyes, which strengthened my confidence. 

“Would you like me to call Shanna back in-“ I asked him

Interrupting, he said, “No, just set it back in quickly, if you can. I can’t stand this weird feeling.” 

“Number one complaint I’ve heard that about dislocations,” I chuckled. 

I positioned myself in front of Chris so I could set the shoulder quickly, and hopefully, with minimal pain. 

“Alright, so I’m going to count to three, and then I’ll set it in. Is that okay with you?” 

Chris nodded, probably preparing himself for the pain. 

“One, two, three.” After I spoke, I made one of the most impulsive decisions of my life: I kissed Chris on the cheek as I pushed his arm back into the shoulder socket. He let out a slight grunt, but his eyes comically widened as my lips landed on his perfect, unmarred skin.

Ignoring the look of shock and awe on his face, I stayed in character as the stoic doctor treating him. I asked him if he felt any pain, which I ended up giving him some stronger painkillers for, and told him to move his arm slightly back and forth. 

“OK, so it looks in pretty good shape-you’re free to go! Just keep icing it, and restrict your arm movements. If the pain suddenly gets worse or anything, go to the ER but if you take those painkillers, it should do the trick since it was only a minor dislocation.” 

Seeing that he wasn’t about to move anytime soon since he was still gaping like a fish (either because of the pain or the kiss, I’m not quite sure), I moved to stand in between his legs which I’m positive wasn’t proper medical protocol. But Chris seemed to make me act thoughtlessly.

Patting his knee, I leaned forward and whispered in his ear. “What? You know that’s not the most intimate thing you’ve imagined me doing.”

Turning away from him, I left him sitting on the counter-top, trying to hide my completely flushed face.

Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT: I've obviously taken some liberties with the treatment of a shoulder location in this fic; if you actually dislocate your shoulder, PLEASE go to the ER and get it checked out by an actual doctor
> 
> Naina's outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=188576907
> 
> Please feel free to leave any comments below- I'd love to hear what you thought of the story!


	9. Chapter Nine

Ananth and I left Cape Cod early in the evening after I had received a message from Shanaya asking me to cover her Sunday rotations because of some last minute changes in scheduling.

I started to get more and more caught up in my own life, only sporadically texting Shanna and Chris. 

Initially, I had gotten used to the grueling schedule associated with being a pediatric resident, but once Ananth got into the middle of the school year, his volume of schoolwork seemed to increase exponentially. 

Every other day, he would come take the train to my apartment and lock himself in the guestroom to pour over his textbooks and readings while I would wait on him hand and foot so that he could basically study non-stop. 

All the while having to edit his shitty English papers and help him with his science homework sets.

Good thing too, because my parents had put their efforts to get me married on the back-burner to focus on Ananth’s studies and exams: now instead of badgering me, he was bearing the burden of my parent’s intrusive attention. 

So I hadn’t gone on any more dates since they wanted my full focus to be on him without any distractions: they still valued my brother’s education above all else.  
So, at least for some time, I was in the clear. 

One Friday night, Ananth pushed a piece of paper towards me during dinner. “Akka, I need to you sign this.” 

I stopped eating the small portion left of my hastily-cooked pasta, looking up from the newest pediatric journal that I was reviewing, just in case the attendings decided to quiz the residents on the newest breakthroughs in the field. 

“You didn’t get into any trouble, did you?” Worry seeped into my voice. Not only would that ruin his academic record for his future, but also Amma and Dad would crucify me for not “guiding him properly.”

“Well, for my film class, we’re discussing the allegorical representations of inequality in film, and each student is assigned a movie to watch. We then have to write a short essay and lead a short class discussion.” 

That piqued my interest. “Sounds interesting; where were all these assignments when I went to high school? But anyway, why are you telling me this now?” 

“Because the film that I chose from the list was ‘Snowpiercer,’ and since it’s rated R, I need your permission to watch it, so I just need you to sign the paper.” 

I quickly scrawled my signature on the form.

I asked, in a confused manner, “Do I need to sit through it with you?” 

“No, I just need to borrow your Netflix account; it’s already streaming on there. I wouldn’t need your help if you hadn’t disconnected it from the TV and changed the password-“ 

Angered by his unnecessary annoyance, I retorted, “Hey! Amma and Dad didn’t want you to have any distractions; if you have any problem with that, go take it up with them.” 

God, I loved my brother, but he could be such an ass at times. 

I took both of our now empty plates, quickly scrubbed them, and loaded them into the dishwasher. 

“Wait, let me get the laundry. I’ll log into the account for you, and then I can fold them on the couch while you watch this movie.” 

Ananth sharply inhaled. “Wait, Akka, didn’t you take a film class in college?” 

I mumbled, “Yep, during my freshman year of college. Why do you ask?” 

He immediately grabbed my hand. “Please, Akka, help me with the assignment-“ 

Pulling my had out of his, I interrupted him with a loud, obnoxious snort, and turned my back to him to take the clothes out of the dryer. 

“Ananth, I used to sleep-walk to that class at 8 o’clock every morning after pulling my all-nighters for my science classes. I’m pretty sure the only reason I did well in that class was because of my intense cramming sessions before each exam. I’m probably the wrong person to ask for-”

I turned around with the basket full of freshly laundered clothing to see Ananth giving me the same puppy dog eyes that he used to use on me all the time when we were younger. So I did what I always did back then: I immediately caved to the demands of my younger brother. 

“Fine, fine. I’ll watch it with you, but carry the laundry over to the couch” I acquiesced half-heartedly, shoving the bin into Ananth’s hands. 

Maybe I could sneakily finish that journal article I had started earlier while Ananth was distracted with the film: I was so damn screwed if I didn’t finish that reading.

Settling down on the couch, I opened Netflix on the TV and typed in my login information, and began to sort out the clothing through the innumerable amount of T-shirts that Ananth owned. 

I began the tedious process of folding everything. “So what’s this ‘Snowpiercer’ movie about again?” 

During the opening credits of the movie, Ananth explained the premise of the film which seemed to revolve around class warfare in a train with a physics-defying perpetual motion that circumnavigates the globe during a global ice age created after scientists tried to solve the global warming crisis. 

“The themes that you’re talking about are similar to the Occupy Wall Street movement. You should definitely mention that in your thesis and discussion-”

Ananth shushed me. “Akka, why do you still talk during every movie? You need to-“ 

“Yeah, yeah, alright, look it’s starting now so you should start taking notes or something-“ I muttered, in an attempt to deflect Ananth’s criticism. 

The movie was very dark and grim, which was to be expected from a movie that was a required watching in a film class. However, what really surprised me was not what was being shown on screen, but who was in the film. 

“Hold up, hold up, pause the movie.” I told Ananth, as he reached over me to grab the remote. 

“OK, this may just be because I’m exhausted, but that is Chris right?” I asked Ananth, pointing to the grimy actor covered in dirt and fake blood who was leading the revolution.

Ananth completely ignored me while he was weirdly squinting at the TV screen. Cursing at my brother’s inability to even acknowledge my questions, I grabbed my phone and did a quick IMDB search. 

Oh. So he was the main character in this movie. Oh my god, I’m watching my first Chris Evans movie. 

Well, this’ll be interesting. 

Setting aside the overflowing laundry basket, I grabbed a plushy throw to drape over my legs as I leaned back against a pillow to make myself comfortable. 

Now I just had to watch the film in its entirety.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Walking down the barren hallway, I was texting Shanna about not being able to do a movie marathon with Chris and her, using Ananth as a shield so that she wouldn’t drag me out of the house and increase the already high probability of seeing him again. 

Thank god that I hadn’t talked to him since Scott’s super-eventful and super awkward birthday. I honestly would have absolutely, positively no idea what to do.

Tucking my phone away, I read through some of the patients’ charts, my eyes slightly glazing over from fatigue. 

A knock on the door startled me as the nurse yelled, “Dr. Prabhu, they need you in room 108 with the broken arm!” 

I winced at her shrieking, and responded, “I’ll be right there as soon as I’m done here,” turning to finish adjusting the IV for the sedated patient after taking her vitals. 

After checking on my last patient before my rounds were officially completed, I sighed with relief as I walked to the locker room for the residents so I could pick up my things and hightail the fuck out of there. 

Today hadn’t been that great of a day. One of the attendings was in a shitty mood, and had taken it out on most of the residents, making us feel as incompetent as we had on our first day of medical school four years ago. 

On top of that, she had specifically called me out as the lucky resident to take on some extra patients who had some extremely stubborn and difficult parents to deal with.

My mind and soul were so fucking ready for this day to be over.

Massaging my temples to alleviate a massive headache, I headed down the corridor through the lobby when I heard someone say my name. 

“Naina! Over here!” I turned around to see Chris standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall. 

Usually I would have straightened my shoulders and kept my cool after I walked over to him. Since as we were in a hospital, I uncharacteristically panicked, thinking that something had happened. 

Eyes widening, I loudly said, “What are you doing here? Are you OK-“ 

“Naina, it’s all okay, honey,” he began to speak as he walked up to me, and pulled me into a hug, patting my back in an effort to soothe and calm me down. 

“Hey, it’s fine,” he said softly. “I just came to get the dislocated shoulder checked out in orthopedics.”

Taking a deep breath, I shakily spoke. “I’m sorry, I’ve had a long… and stressful day… I just saw you here and my exhausted mind jumped to strange conclusions- …very unbecoming and unprofessional of me, I apologize.” 

“Nothing to be sorry about, at all. You got emotional, all humans do; even doctors.” He said with a smile. “Are you still working now?” 

“No, I actually just finished with my shift; I was on my way to actually get my stuff so I could-“ 

“Naina, I know you’re a doctor, but I’m not letting you drive anywhere alone after what happened. Why don’t we get a cup of coffee or something from the café here?” 

He was probably right; I could still feel my heart beating erratically through my rib cage after that episode. And my headache might feel slightly better since I was weird mix of being sleep deprived and tired. A coffee would probably do me some good. 

“Let me… let me just get changed out of these scrubs. The residents’ locker room is just down this hallway.” 

Chris said that he’d wait there while I got my things. I slowly walked into the mostly empty room after punching in the code, still reeling from what had happened. I mechanically changed into skinny jeans, flats, and a black long sleeve shirt after grabbing my backpack.

I went into the adjacent bathroom, and splashed some water on my face. Looking up in the mirror, I told myself everything was fine. Even though I looked like complete shit after my long shift. Slipping my glasses back onto my face, I gulped down some water from my water-bottle. 

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I saw Chris was waiting patiently at the end of the hallway, looking at something on his phone. 

I walked over to him. “Hey, sorry if I took a while…” giving him a small smile to reassure him that I was fine. 

He gave me a shy smile back. "Don't worry about it! Want to head over to the coffee shop now?” 

We walked across the lobby, and the awkward silence was hurting my soul. Probably because of my out-of-character flirtatious behavior at the Cape, and also because of my melt-down in front of him earlier. 

I wracked my brain to find something that we could talk about to kill the time on the walk. “So what did you guys end up doing after Ananth and I left? I feel terrible, we basically had to saw cake in half-“ 

Raising his eyebrows, he responded, “Pretty sure that was because of Shanna, not you. She’s a terrible baker-“ 

“And since I’m so much than her, it was such a good idea for her to ask me to help.” I sarcastically muttered. 

“It’s fine, that’ll probably become one of the more memorable birthday moments in the Evans family. And you’re a much, much better cook than her,” he chuckled. 

The café on the bottom floor of the hospital was pretty empty with the exception of some gossiping nurses and a couple of men in suits typing away on their laptops. 

“Hey- Naina! What’s up, what can I get for you guys?” Rachel, who was usually the barista in the later evenings, asked me. 

“Hey Rachel! Haven’t seen you here in a while. How’re your classes going?” 

She sighed. “Fine, I guess; it’s just very, very stressful with all the lab credits this semester.” 

“Ugh, doesn’t that take me back?” I wryly said, rolling my eyes at the thought of all those long nights I spent toiling over those tedious lab write-ups.

We ordered our coffee and then made our way to one of the empty booths near the entrance. 

“Why did you not order the chai tea latte that was on the menu?’ 

I raised my eyebrows. “Did you just assume that I’d get that just because I’m Indian?” 

Flabbergasted, Chris’ eyes bulged out of his skull. He started to splutter, “No, that’s not it, I promise-“ 

Chuckling, I said, “I’m just pulling your leg, calm down! I honestly only like homemade chai, they always put extra cinnamon in their ‘chai tea latte’ here- It’s just not the same. Anyway, I needed this caffeine rush to keep me going.”

Chris then took a sip from his cup casually, which made me involuntarily grimace and accidentally let out a small noise. Chris turned to me, and looked at me quizzically. “What?” he said, furrowing his brow. 

I nodded my head towards his cup. “How the hell do you not find that bitter and gross? All you put in there was a little bit of cream.” 

Taking offense, he scoffed. “As a coffee purist, what I don’t understand is how you put in extra sugar even in a caramel macchiato- now THAT’s gross.” 

Besides,” he paused as he leaned over, showing off his muscular forearms, and continued to say, “I like my coffee like I like my women; brown and hot.”

My eyes widened as he then slouched back and relaxed back into the chair, with that stupid sexy smirk on his face.

Well, two can play at this game; even though I’d probably regret that later. 

Biting my lip, I coyly retorted, “Well, I like my coffee like I like my men; sweet and pale.”

His mouth dropped open for a millisecond, but before I could even process his reaction, he threw his head back and laughed. “Well, then I’d fit the bill perfectly. Wish I had known earlier, but I don’t suppose that matters now.” 

Now I was stumped. “Why is that?” 

“Well, I managed to finally get you on a date with me,” he said, with a half-smile. 

“Wait a second,” I responded. “This isn’t a date…. It’s a… platonic meeting between two friends removed by one degree- that one degree being Shanna.”

“Well, if you want to give this,” mimicking my gesturing between the both of us, “ some sort of label, I would say that what we have is more, more of a… flirtatious friendship, so to speak,” he, winking at me. 

My eyes widened once again, and I was taken slightly aback. I clicked my tongue, I pondered what he had just said. And his past behavior around me. I mustered enough courage to ask a question that had been nagging me for a while. 

“Is this the way you treat all your friends?” 

“What?” Chris looked innocently at me. As if he didn’t know what he was doing, that little bastard. 

“Do you flirt like this,” gesturing to the both of us, “with all of your friends?” 

“Only the pretty ones,” he said diffidently. 

I spluttered, almost spitting out my coffee. Well, he was being quite forward. Well, I could be blunt too, if that’s what he wanted. 

I sighed, and blurted out everything that was in my mind without any sort of filter, my volume escalating with every word. 

“Well… I need you…to stop- well, at least, dial it down a bit. It makes me feel too weird, you know? Like my parents are husband-hunting for me, and one of the only friends I have in Boston is constantly flirting with me!” 

“Okay, I guess I see what you’re saying,” he grudgingly admitted. “I promise I won’t do it so much anymore. I can’t help it, it’s kind of the way I am with all my friends, but I’m sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable.”

He said the last part so earnestly that I couldn’t stay upset at him even if I tried. 

Feeling bad for berating Shanna’s older brother like that, especially after all that the Evanses have done for me, I tepidly stated, “I’m sorry too- for yelling- it’s just… it’s not proper, you know? And I know, part of it is my fault because I listened to Shanna -, never mind that,- I just shouldn’t have flirted back and lead you on. But we can still be friends though right?” 

Nodding his head, he responded, “Of course, Naina, there’s no need to explain. I completely understand what-“

Chris’s growling stomach interrupted our stirring conversation. “Well, I thought the coffee would make me less hungry, but I didn’t actually eat lunch so I’m going to grab something to eat. Do you want anything?” 

“Nah, I’m all good,” I said, still caught up in my jumbled thoughts and in the tension-filled atmosphere. Hopefully I could awkwardly excuse myself and go home and have a nice glass of wine in my sweatpants. 

“Alright, well, I’ll be back in a couple.” He pushed in his chair, and he turned away. I tilted my head and smirked; I never quite noticed how nicely shaped his ass was. Hey, might as well enjoy the view, right?

Wait, Naina, stop. What you have with Chris is a friendship, no more and no less. You won’t flirt and neither will he. That whole deal stops here. 

“Naina? Is that you?” Oh fuck. Even though I’ve only been here a short while, I’d know that goddamn voice and the shitty person that it belonged to. 

Turning around in my chair, I plastered a smile on my face, and gritted out, “Sam! Hi….” 

Even though I’m pretty sure I made it quite clear how much I didn’t want to talk to him right now, he leaned down to hug me (well, he tried to grope my ass) and I almost vomited. Eww. I quickly untangled myself out of his lanky tanned arms that were sporting a terrible fake tan.

He “My goodness, it feels like I haven’t seen you for a while; you look great without the scrubs on by the way,“ leering at me with his beady little eyes. 

What. A. Dick. 

I pursued my lips, “I’m pretty sure we saw each other this morning before I started my rounds-“ 

Interrupting me, he said, “Oh right, yeah, us surgery residents start much before you guys in the pediatrics program, right? You’d have been a great addition to the rigorous program, Naina; it’s quite something-”

“As is the pediatrics program, Sam,” in an attempt to defend my medical specialty. 

“Come on, Naina, don’t kid yourself; there’s no way in hell that peds is harder than surgery, especially cardiothoracic surgery-”

Seeing that this conversation was pointless, I tuned out his haughty, self-righteous speech that he gave to every resident who wasn’t working in the surgical unit.

“…-Naina? Naina?!” I suddenly zoned back in, right to Sam waving his hand very close to my face. 

Subtly moving his arm out of the way, I spluttered embarrassingly, “I’m sorry, what? I got slightly lost in my thoughts-“ 

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe go out to dinner this weekend?” 

Only if someone gave me a million dollars to do it. Or I would be pardoned a thousand sins. Maybe even both. 

“Ohh…. um, I’m pretty busy with stuff-“ I quickly began to regurgitate my go-to excuse to get out of things, when I felt somebody slide in right next to me, and slip their arm around me. 

“Hey babe,” Chris said, pulling me closer to his body and squeezing my left shoulder. 

What the hell? OK, now I was internally freaking out because I had no clue what was going on. 

He dropped a quick peck on my temple, and whispered into my ear, “Play along, Naina,” which cleared up my confusion immediately. 

Since he’s been in some of the most successful movies of all time, I’ll just let him take the lead on this one. 

“Brought you the croissant you wanted,” he said while sliding a bag over to me. 

He must have seen how desperate I was to get out of this situation with Sam to offer me his food since he must have been starving after skipping lunch. 

“Thanks….babe?” I said in an inadvertently deadpan voice. It sounded hot when Chris said it, but I just sounded dumb.

“This is Sam, by the way.” My mind reeling from Chris holding me so close. 

“Oh, hey man, I’m Chris, by the way, Naina’s boyfriend,” he said the last part proudly, looking down at me. 

“You’re dating someone?” Sam screeched incredulously. “Emma said that you weren’t seeing anyone-“

“Yeah, you know, she wasn’t, but Naina and my younger sister are very close friends for some time now. I only met her recently when she moved. But as soon as I saw her, I knew that she was perfect.” He said all this while nuzzling his nose in my messy bun and grabbing my waist, his other hand skimmed dangerously close to the apex of my thighs. 

Damn. He was really playing it up for Sam. That’s the perks of having an actual actor be your fake boyfriend for a couple minutes, I guess. 

“Yeah, I just knew that…. That he was the one.” Ew, that was super corny, but I tried to act completely smitten, gazing lovingly into Chris’s hypnotic blue eyes, as I relaxed into his embrace. 

Slightly. Just this once, I promise. 

‘Well, then, I’ll let you guys enjoy yourselves then,” he said suggestively, as Chris had just started to trace patterns with his finger near my knee, which was making me very ticklish. 

I immediately untangled myself from his arms so I wouldn’t let myself become too comfortable around him. “Seriously, thanks for that. I absolutely abhor him and his stupid face and attitude. Now I definitely need to play catch-up with more of your movies after seeing Snowpiercer cause that was some pretty convincing acting.”

“Oh, did you just watch it? How’d you like it?” His eyes lit up with excitement, weirdly eager to get my amateur opinion about films. 

However, once someone got me talking about movies, I wouldn’t shut the fuck up. “Yeah, Ananth had some project that he had to watch it for. The premise was fantastic! I’ve seen some other Korean movies, but this one was a whole new level of fucked up, I couldn’t get it out of my head. That ending… like I couldn’t fall asleep at night…” 

What I didn't mention was how weirdly sexy I thought the grimy Curtis Everett was. His character stayed in my head, giving me an ache between my legs all night. I finally submitted to the urge, only for the sake of needing sleep so I wouldn’t die the next morning during rotations. 

“Well, I’m glad you appreciated my acting in the movie, Naina, but if medicine doesn’t work out, you should most definitely not be an actress.” 

I scoffed, in an attempt to fake annoyance. “Well, then-“

He patted me on the shoulder. “I say this as your friend, what I just saw was probably some of the worst acting I’ve seen in some time.” He threw his head back and clutched his chest, letting out a hearty laugh. 

I scowled, saying, “Hey, you’re the one to talk! You basically pushed me into the spot. You’re just like your sister, you know that? She always says exactly the same thing about me when I try to pull wool over her eyes. But, honestly, thank you. Really, you didn’t have to pretend to be my boyfriend-“ 

He rubbed my upper arm softly, and smiling down at me, with sincerity glistening in his eyes. “Anytime you need a boyfriend, I’m there.” 

But all that was running through my mind was why there wasn’t the word “fake” in that sentence.

Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry this chapter took me so long to post, but hopefully I'll be able to post more regularly soon! Please do feel free to leave any comments below, I'd love to hear your thoughts, if you are so inclined. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Naina's outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=190613344


	10. Chapter Ten

As the summer quickly turned to autumn, Shanna had started to become more and more busy. With my erratic and unpredictable timings at the hospital and her schedule at the school, I hadn’t seen her as often as I wanted to.

But since Chris was spending his time off in Boston, he had started to become a bigger part of my life. He’d text me all the time when I was on my late and overnight shifts in the hospital, since he was more of a night owl than his sister.

Sometimes when he couldn’t fall asleep, he’d call me when I got time off from work and we’d talk about all sorts of things - from the latest albums that he’d heard to the latest astronomy discoveries, all of which he would geek out about. We would just stay on the phone together until one of us ending up falling asleep on the other.

Often, during a shift, my phone would be light up with notifications of random texts and cute puppy photos and videos. The other residents that I worked with would often ask why I randomly laughed while looking at my phone during breaks.

He was such an adorable nerd, and I was never bored with him around.

Nowadays, he’d just started to come over and spend time at my apartment whenever I’d have a day off after a night shift, especially since Ananth was spending less time at my place because he had made friends at his school.

But nothing _actually_ ever happened; like everyone always says, we were still just friends.

Apparently we had reached that point in our friendship where he invited me over to his house at this ungodly hour on my day off. I had to down two cups of coffee before even getting into my car.

 _This had better be good_.  I let myself into the house with the spare key Shanna had given me in case of emergencies.

“Chris! Where are you?”

“Come upstairs!” I heard a muffled yell from the second floor of the house.

Trudging up the staircase, I walked to his room near the end of the hallway. But when I pushed the door open, I found a completely empty bedroom.

Weird, I could’ve sworn that I heard his voice come from his room.

Suddenly I felt a pair of lips almost graze my ear as a deep voice echoed, “Boo.”

I yelped, jumping a foot or so in the air. When my erratic heartbeat had calmed down slightly, I stopped clutching my chest.

Turning, I began to give him a piece of my mind. “Goddamn it, Chris, stop being so much like Shanna and scaring-”

Well, even if he acted like Shanna, he most definitely did not look like her.

There, in front of me, was a shirtless Chris, dressed only in a pair of heavy duty jeans. God this was the second time I saw him without clothes: why did he always end up naked in front of me?

Not that I was complaining much about the eye candy.

Gaping for a millisecond, I then subtly tried to avert my gaze so I wouldn’t be looking at his defined upper body. I could be calm in this type of situation.

He looked like he was dying to say something to diffuse the awkwardness, but he was holding himself back.

 _Strange._ Come to think of it, this happened a lot whenever we hung out, as if he wasn’t the Chris that I had come to know.

I needed our conversations to not be so damn stilted all the time.

“You know, this is too damn weird. Flirt all you want, I can’t hold you back. It’s too weird when you’re not being your normal, flirty self.”

 That mischievous and teasing gleam in his eyes that had been missing for a while came back. “Well, I don’t know about that…” he said with a smirk gracing his luscious lips as he moved closer towards me.

 “So then I guess I can now ask you this...” He uttered seductively while biting his plump lower lip, “are you enjoying the view?”

 _And he’s back_ , I thought to myself as I rolled my eyes and ignored his cocky question.

“I’ll just be outside when you’re done,” I muttered as I slipped past him and out into the hallway.

I took a deep breath and shook my head. Of course seeing him half-naked got me just a little rattled, but naked men weren’t anything that I hadn’t seen before as a doctor.

Of course, none of my patients had ever looked like Chris.

I only had to wait for about a minute until he came outside, fully dressed (thank goodness!) in a flannel shirt and jeans.  He was holding a small bag and wearing a dark blue baseball cap with a pair of sunglasses.

Now my curiosity was getting the better of me. “So what is this special surprise that you’ve been going on about?” I asked Chris as we got into his car.

He plopped the small knapsack into my lap. “Consider this a late birthday present from me,” he responded while putting the key into the ignition.

Now I was very confused.

I opened up the bag to find an old disposable camera, a water bottle, a pair of sunglasses, a Toronto Maple Leaves baseball cap, and a tour guide book with checklist and map of Boston.

I looked at him quizzically until it hit me. I began to squeal, “Are we going sightseeing?”

 “Yeah, I was thinking about doing this after that night when you told me that you had yet to see all the sights that Boston, You’ve been here for two months already,” Chris chortled, seeing my enthusiasm, “someone would have to drag you to go see everything with all the time you’re cooped up in your apartment or in the hospital.”

He did have a point there; I’m too much of a homebody.

He continued, “And since I’ve grown up in the area, I thought I would be your tour guide for the day.”

“But then why would you put this tour book in here-” I muttered, while toying with edges of the cover.  

“Oh, that was just in case you didn’t quite get what the surprise was with just the camera,” he said after tossing it into the backseat of the car.

“I’m not that dense!” I retorted, with faux anger in my voice.

I quickly slipped on the baseball cap and sunglasses, and looking in the small car mirror, I gasped, “Look, Chris, we match now. These are like… like our disguises so nobody recognizes-“

My train of thought was interrupted, however, when I heard Chris sniggering next to me.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I asked, “Wait, what’s so funny?”

Chris was trying to keep a straight face, but he was failing miserably. “Nothing, nothing.”

 I turned to him. “Tell me!” I pressed him further, trying to convince him with my puppy-dog eyes through the tinted sunglasses. “Please?”

“You look adorable,” he whispered sincerely, his voice bursting with unreadable emotion, while straightening out the brim of my baseball cap.

Breaking away from his intense gaze, I awkwardly responded, “Anyway, where are we going first?”

We parked the car on one end of the city, and took the T to all the different sights we had to see.

Because of morning rush hour, it was pretty busy and claustrophobic with the morning commuters.

They were all so caught up in their smartphones; nobody noticed the famous actor in their midst.

Watching me struggle to not fall over during the twists and turns of the subway car, he pleaded sarcastically, “ _Please_ tell me this isn’t the first time that you’ve taken public transportation.”

“Of course I have,” I scoffed, getting onto my tip-toes to try to hold on to the railing.

“Doesn’t look like it,” joked Chris, standing steady as a brick wall. “Should I lift you up?”

I gasped in mock astonishment.  “Hey, just because I’m short doesn’t mean I need your help-“ Suddenly the car lurched, and I felt myself lose my grip and my footing.

I braced myself for the impact, and squeezed my eyes shut when I felt my small hands collide with something muscular and firm.

“I got you,” Chris’ deep voice murmured, and I slowly opened my eyelids.  

I felt his well-defined arms wrapping themselves around my body, almost caressing my waist as I looked up into his piercing blue eyes. His manly aura and musky scent enveloped me, and I could make out his heartbeat pumping under my hand.

I could swear I began to feel it thump faster, and maybe he could feel my breath became shallow.

I hadn’t really ever been this close to a guy in some time. Nor had I felt this way before. It was as if time stood still for just the two of us, and all the air had been sucked out of the train.

Chris broke us out of our spell, “Wouldn’t have pegged you as the type to try and cop a feel, Naina.”

“You wish.” I retorted as I untangled myself out of his very comfortable arms.

He looked deep in thought as he muttered something under his breath, but just then we reached the Boylston Station to see the Boston Commons, and all the passengers flooded out of the train.

We went all over the city, to more places than I could even count. We even stopped at the Boston Waterfront, T.D. Garden and Fenway.

“So this is where they play….” I mumbled, struggling to remember exactly what sport is played where, “baseball, right?”

“Yeah, the Red Sox play here, just in case you didn’t know,” Chris informed me. “Shanna mentioned your aversion to sports-“

“That’s just because I don’t _understand_ it,” I interrupted him, “and I have a fear of objects flying towards my person, so I just generally stay away from all that.”

“I used to come here all the time when I was younger to watch the games,” Chris reminisced, his blue orbs slightly glazing over, “Once, when we were about twelve, I think, me and Josh, came unsupervised to Fenway-“

“Hold up, Lisa let you come here without supervision,” I remarked, “when you were just thirteen? My parents would barely let me walk alone to the neighborhood pool!”

“Well, I mean it was a pretty bad idea- considering we were broke by the end of the game, and had to beg for money to get back home-“

“Of _course_ you would end up doing that-“

“Hey, we were teenage boys. How responsible do you think we’d be?”

“Anyway, I never realized that stadiums were this big on the inside-“

“Hold up, hold up, are you telling me,” Chris spoke in a hushed tone, as if he couldn’t believe me, “you’ve never been inside a stadium before…”

“Yes..?” I was confused as to where he was going with this.

“So that means you’ve never been to a professional sports game before?” He said, enunciating every word. “Any _at all_?”

I had to hold in my laughter; the poor guy was still in some serious shock about this. 

In an attempt to defend myself, I argued, “Well, I mean, I’ve been to Ananth’s school baseball and football games-“

“Yeah, those don’t count, Naina,” Chris retorted. “That’s another thing we have to catch you up to.”

“If you say so…”

Once we had finished our tour of Fenway, I suggested that we head over to the Museum of Fine Arts – I was such a geek for art.

 “One of the residents that I work with, Paul, was telling me about this new exhibit-”

Chris interrupted me with a groan, “Naina, we have so many other places to go! Like the Museum of Science…”

“If you get to drag me to Fenway, then you also have to take me to an arts museum” I insisted stubbornly, “We can go to the Museum of Science after!”

He gave in, and we made our way over to the MFA. Chris ended up spending almost the entire time upset at me for showing him everything that “Shanna had shown him already.”

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly at his petulance. “Let’s go see the new Picasso exhibit!” Grabbing his hand, I excitedly pulled Chris towards the gallery.

We perused through some of the paintings until I saw a painting that I recognized. 

I didn’t know they had this on display! I called Chris over to where I was standing.   

“Shanna and I had to do a presentation on this painting in our art history class during freshman year,” I squealed excitedly, “Wait, I remember some of our analysis; if you look at the profile of the figure of the left-“

I started blabbing on about the symbolism and meanings hidden within the painting. Well, that is, until I sensed Chris’ intense gaze.

“And the vivid colors- wait, what happened?”

“No, nothing at all,” Chris chuckled, concealing a smile as if he was enjoying some inside joke that went over my head, “Go on, Naina.”

                        ------------------------------------------------------------------

“This is perfect…” I marveled, as we looked up at the stars - even though they were just in a planetarium.

“I know, I was hooked when I came here for the first time,” Chris excitedly whispered over the automated voice mechanically droning on about the night sky. “Look over there, you can see the constellation Andromeda-”

Chris started listing off all of the constellations and telling me about mythology behind them; all I could do was stare at him, captivated by his enthusiasm, and smile.

“And the story about that one is that- wait, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I giggled; he was so endearing when he was out about the stars.

Continuing, he said, “The most memorable moments of all of our family camping trips were when everyone would just lay down on blankets beneath the stars and… just look up.”

“I haven’t actually done that kind of thing for a while now,” I sighed wistfully thinking back to the times when I had no responsibilities. “I’ve always been so busy with work and studying that I’d forgotten how beautiful the sky can be.”

 “I’ll have to take you sometime.” He then turned towards me with those expressive baby blues, and tenderly whispered, “I’ve shown you the sunrise and sunset back at the lake and the beach. Now let me show you the stars.”

                                           ----------------------------------------------------

 “I’m so tired,” I moaned as we walked back to T after finishing up at the Museum of Science.  “I’m pretty sure we walked all over the city.”

“Aren’t you glad I told you to wear comfortable shoes?” Chris quipped.

“Well, I would have killed you if you didn’t.” I said after I had sat down. “Where are we going next?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. So I thought we could go to the North End.”

After a short ride on the train and a small walk, we made it to the restaurant.

“Trattoria di Monica,” I enunciated in badly-pronounced Italian while reading the sign over the small establishment.

Chris threw his head back and laughed, and proceeded to correct my enunciation.

I childishly stuck my tongue out at him. “Well, next time I’ll take you to an Indian restaurant and laugh when you try to pronounce everything.”

We went inside and were seated at a booth.

The waitress, a very young and pretty brunette, strutted over. “Hello! My name is Beth. What can I get for you today?”

It didn’t quite escape my notice that she was talking only to Chris. _Way to be subtle, Beth._

We both asked for water while she handed us the menus.  My eyes bulged out at the prices.

 _“_ Got to re-budget for the next month later tonight,” I thought.  

Obviously, as she leaned over to fill our glasses, she gave Chris an eyeful of her cleavage. I resisted the urge to not roll my eyes at her obvious flirting. _(You’re not jealous, Naina. You’re. NOT. jealous.)_

We both ordered their signature spaghetti dishes, which was apparently one of Chris’ favorites on the menu.

“I used to come here all the time with my Ma’s side of the family,” Chris reminisced wistfully, “My very, very Italian grandmother from my mother’s side always used to say that the food here was one of the closest things to authentic Italian cuisine. Well, besides her own cooking.”

I couldn’t stop smiling as he continued talking about his escapades with his family

Our food arrived quickly in the hands of Beth, and I just had to narrow my eyes at her blatant flirting behavior.

“She’s pretty; poor girl was trying really hard to impress you.”

“Really?” He said surprisingly. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“How did you not notice how she was almost rubbing up on you-”

“How did you notice?” He interrupted waggled his eyebrows as he leaned towards me. “Jealous?”

“Nope,” I said, over-emphasizing the word.  I guffawed, in an attempt to be nonchalant, “Not even close.”

 I picked up my fork, wanting to dig into my lunch, when I saw Chris looking conflicted about something. “What happened?”

He just picked up a strand of spaghetti and put one end into his mouth, and just smiled expectantly at me.

I looked at him weirdly for a good minute until I realized what he wanted to do. “No…” I gasped, “Lady and the Tramp?”

Needless to say, our little experiment did not go well. We tried multiple times, and the one time we got really, really close, the spaghetti noodle broke in the middle.

“Maybe we could try again?” He asked earnestly.

“We got sauce everywhere and it’s too messy,” I started shoveling the food into my mouth. “And I’m too hungry.”

Once we finished up, we took the train back to where we had parked the car. And we passed by-

“…my old house…” I recalled softly, seeing the neighborhood and the somewhat familiar sights.

“Don’t tell me.. are you actually a Mass girl?!” Chris said excitedly. “That explains why I like you so much,” he winked at me.

“Yeah, I was born here near this part of the city. I would’ve thought that Shanna had said something about that-”

“Now we can’t leave until we see your house!” So we got off the train and walked around the small neighborhood filled with apartment buildings. We stopped near one at the end of the street, and sat on a nearby bench.

“See that window down there?” I pointed to an apartment located just above the ground, near the basement level of the building. “That’s where I lived until I was six.”

Seeing, or rather not seeing, the apartment evoked complicated, usually dormant emotions in me. Emotions that were suddenly bubbling up at a rather inconvenient time - when I was with Chris.

I looked down and subtly tried to wipe those pesky tears, trying to hide away from Chris. My slight sniffles ended up giving me away.

“Naina? What’s wrong?” He soothingly asked as he wrapped one of his arms around me.

“Nothing.” I sniveled curtly, trying to get a grip of my reeling emotions.

“I’m not that dumb, Naina. You’re obviously crying; so it’s not nothing,” he insisted, “You can tell me.”

We sat quietly for a moment while I gathered my thoughts that were all over the place. Finally, I cleared my throat.

“Well, um… you obviously know that my parents aren’t from here…” I started off awkwardly, trying to figure out how to explain my feelings.

“Yes, I know,” urging me to continue.

“They moved here three years before I was born, right after they had gotten married. My parents had gotten managed to get into the anesthesiology residency program and the internal medicine program at Harvard.” I took a deep breath before continuing. “They were my age when they moved thousands of miles away from their homes to try to make something of themselves. Different customs, different culture… just different.” I sighed heavily, “I can’t even begin to understand how hard that was. Even moving from Maryland to Boston was painful for me; imagine uprooting yourself from your entire family.” I had to pause to gather myself as I felt a slight ache in my heart. “I should stop now, this is just the same as every other immigrant parent cliché-“

“Hey,” he spoke softly as if I were a fragile piece of glass that could shatter at any moment, “it’s important if it’s your story.”

So I labored on with the emotional thoughts that I had been repressing for so long. “I spent most of my childhood in that small, dingy apartment. We didn’t have much there; my parents didn’t bring much from back home and they didn’t have large stipends. They slogged through long hours and still put my sister and me before anything else. And they didn’t even have anyone to help them in the States!”

I could feel Chris’ intense gaze as he tried to process all that I was saying.

“They’d always tell us that the sole reason they came to the States was to create a better life and future for themselves and their children. And they did - by working hard enough and moving from their one-bedroom apartment in Boston into a house in the suburbs of Maryland. They drilled that into our brains twenty-four seven; in their minds, the only way we could do that was by becoming educated professionals.”

“And you did that,” Chris asserted, trying to comfort me, “you’re a pediatric resident-”

“Sometimes I wonder whether I made a mistake with that.” _Great, Naina, now you’ve opened a whole new can of worms._

“What?”

“Well, since both of my parents were doctors, they wanted at least one of their children to follow in their footsteps. And when I was born, I was that lucky one. When I was younger, they always used to give me those little toy first aid kits with the injections and the stethoscopes-”

“Well, those are cute too-” Chris valiantly attempted to defend my parents.

However, I wasn’t having any of that. “But they never once asked what I wanted to be! They just assumed that I wanted to become a doctor just like them, Chris! They just… they just decided for me…” I continued, “Then one day, after we had moved to Maryland, they put me in these Indian dance lessons, you know, so I could ‘be connected with my roots,’” making air quotes around the last part. “And I just fell in love with it. The form, the style, the way performing felt. And I really wanted to do that for the rest of my life.”

“Did you tell your parents?”

“Well, one day, I somehow managed to muster up the courage to tell them I wanted to be an Indian classical dancer. They immediately told me that I’d bring shame upon the family and that pursuing it as a career would be a waste of my academic prowess in the sciences. That was the end of that emotionally blackmailing discussion.”

“So did you stop dancing then?”

“I was allowed to continue because my teacher insisted that I was one of the best classical dancers she’d trained in years. Once I had my **arangetram** , like my first formal dance recital, they immediately took me out of lessons and forced school textbooks and college prep books into my hands.”

“I’m so sorry, Naina,” sympathy gleaming in his eyes as he hugged me.

“They’ve just always taught me to follow their wishes and dreams for me. I’ve always done exactly what they’ve told me to do, never once going against them. Apply to these colleges, take these classes, go to this medical school, and now… now get married to one of these guys.” I let out a sarcastic laugh. “But I know I will never ever be able to turn my back on them, no matter how much I’d love to have control over my own life. So I’ve gone through the five stages of grief multiple times. First denial, then acceptance of the situation.”

Chris was strangely silent as he pulled me into a hug, and rested his chin on top of my head and patted my back reassuringly.  

It was as if he was brooding over some preoccupation in his mind about us.

Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An arangetram is the debut on-stage performance of a classical art student, after undertaking years of training, marking the graduation and a new dance career. A photo: http://www.indusphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/galleries/post-2104/thumbnails/med-Alisha%20Arangetram-54.jpg
> 
> I'm so sorry for the delay in updating; but I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please feel free to leave any comments if you are so inclined! :)


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So fair warning: there are some spoilers for the first two Captain America movies along with the first Avengers movie. Proceed forward at your own risk!

_Vacuuming sucks._ No pun intended. The entire apartment was kind of a mess since I had two very long shifts this week, and absolutely no time to do anything; well, other than eating, working, and barely getting any sleep. Life was going _awesome._

 

My vacuuming was so loud that I hadn’t heard the knocking at the door. Or the slight noise of the keyhole turning.

 

After I was satisfied with how the living room looked, I shut the vacuum off. Good, now the apartment was fully cleaned. Pushing my glasses back onto the bridge of my nose, I walked into the kitchen to cross ‘cleaning up my life’ off the to-do list.

 

But, hey, one victory at a time.

 

“You should really find a more inconspicuous hiding place for your spare key,” I heard his voice boom, “if you’re going to leave it lying around.”

 

I turned to find Chris sitting with his feet perched on my kitchen table, casually munching on an apple.

 

“Well, it was inconspicuous until Shanna told you where I keep it,” I retorted. His guilty look gave him away. _Busted._

 

“By the way, why are you here?”

 

“I was bored,” he whined, “Ma and Shanna were busy today, and Scott isn’t coming home until next weekend-”

 

“So you came to bother me,” I mused as I looked over the rest of my to-do list.

 

“I also have an ulterior motive,” he replied. “Since you have the day off, we’re going to have a movie marathon!” He held up Avengers and the Captain America movies.  

 

I furrowed my brows in confusion. “Weren’t we going to wait for Shanna to do that?”

 

“Well, Shanna had the day off, but she found out that she had to go to some teacher’s conference in Worchester today,” he recalled, “but she has given us her blessing.”

 

Sure enough, there was a text from Shanna confirming what he had just told me.

 

“Look, Chris, I…appreciate all this stuff you’re doing for me,” I sighed while looking down at my list, “but I have a ton of errands to run-”

 

“Like what, exactly?” He challenged as he reached over and snatched the piece of paper out of my hands. He began his analysis of what was written on it, holding it high so it was out of my reach.

 

Chris rolled his eyes and groaned, “Seriously? Taxes?”

 

All while I was jumping up to grab it back.

 

“Hey, it’s never too early to start thinking about April fifteenth,” I responded after I landed, waving a finger at him. “You wait until the last minute then.” _Procrastinator._

 

“You just need to take some time for yourself,” he muttered, after ignoring my last comment.

 

“Besides…” he said softly, looking at me through his long eyelashes, “I worry about how much of a workaholic you are.”

 

That made me smile. I exhaled, knowing that I had just caved into his demands. “Fine, fine. You win.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The popcorn’s finished,” I yelled to Chris from the kitchen. _Thank goodness I didn’t burn it._

 

“Did you bring the drinks?” His muffled voice came from the living room.

 

“Yeah, let me go get them.” I grabbed a Coke for myself and a beer for Chris; his blood must be at least forty percent alcohol.

 

I stopped short when I saw the state of my living room; Chris had almost destroyed it to create something with all my throw blankets, couch pillows, and comforters.

 

“A pillow fort!” I was almost mad as I looked at the mess, _(I had just cleaned, goddamn it_!) but just seeing the joy on his face made me giggle.

 

I simply couldn’t stay mad at this meatball for too long.

 

I passed him the bottle of beer, and he guzzled it down. _Maybe more than forty percent..._

 

“Don’t you feel uncomfortable watching yourself on screen?” I asked, chewing on some of the popcorn kernels. “I still can’t watch my dance videos without cringing.”

 

“I usually don’t like watching myself,” Chris said in agreement, “but I wasn’t quite sure whether you would’ve watched them by yourself or with Shanna. And all you seem to do is either work or sleep,” Chris groaned. “You need to lighten up once in a while.”

 

“I saw ‘Snowpiercer’!” I said, attempting to defend myself, “which you were good in-” As I praised him, I knew his head had just doubled in size.

 

“Well,” I nonchalantly continued, trying to downplay how highly I thought of his acting skills, “I mean, you were strictly okay. Nothing to write home about.”

 

His smirk told me all that I needed to know. Gosh, now I wouldn’t ever hear the end of this.

Wanting to start the movie, Chris reached over to grab the remote, but I suddenly realized that I was still in my disgusting cleaning clothes.

 

“Hold up, I forgot to do something-” I went into my room and quickly changed into a pair of comfortable plaid pajama pants, my alma mater sweatshirt, and some fuzzy socks.

 

I ran back to sit down next to Chris, and he laughed when he turned to glance at my outfit.

 

“You’re such a dork, Naina.”

 

“You’re no less of a nerd, Chris.”

                                                   ----------------

As we began the movie, Chris yawned and did that stupid thing you see in movies where the guy puts his arm around the girl.

 

“Umm… what are you doing?” I laughed while raising my eyebrows.

 

“Getting comfortable,” he smirked at me. Well, for someone so muscular, his arms were surprisingly comfortable _. Daammmnnn_. So I let him keep his arm around me.

 

“Holy shit, Elrond is in this move?!” My inner Lord of the Rings nerd was screaming. “I love, love Hugo Weaving-”

 

“Who the fuck is Elrond?!” Chris retorted, “Hugo is the villain-”

 

“You did not just say that,” I gasped, astonished at his sacrilegious response, “Now we’re going to have to do a Lord of the Rings marathon soon.”

 

“You’re such a _nerd_ , Naina-”

 

“Chris?”

 

“Yes?” He turned to smile down at me.

 

“Shut the fuck up,” I ordered in sugary sweet voice, “I’m trying to watch the movie!”

 

“I’m _glad_ we’ve reached that point in our relationship,” Chris laughed, “where you feel comfortable enough to tell me to shut the hell up.”

 

I just stuck my tongue out at him.

 

“Awww, look how cute you look,” I cooed over the skinny Steve on screen. “You’re almost as tall as me,” I winked at him.

 

“How the hell did they make you that skinny?” I mused as Chris was turning slightly red.

 

“Movie magic, CGI!” he responded. “They did something where they like shrunk down my body in post-production, frame-by-frame-”

 

I interrupted his convoluted explanation of movie technology as I saw Steve Roger’s medical file with his conditions.

 

“Let’s see… asthma, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, sinusitis,” I muttered, “He probably would have had-”

 

“For once, Naina, stop thinking about medicine on your day off,” Chris insisted, “and stop trying to diagnose me-”

 

“Hold up… I’m diagnosing Steve, not you,” I attempted to defend myself, but he wasn’t having any of that.

 

“Well, Steve’s kind of my alter ego…” He whispered secretively, “Don’t tell anyone.”

 

I laughed. “I won’t, don’t worry-”  

                       

Our on-going conversation was interrupted by Steve getting beat up outside the movie theater, and I kept wincing at the beating he was taking.

 

“Please tell me that it wasn’t you getting beat up,” I prayed, “and that it was the stunt double or something.”

 

Chris’ silence and refusal to make eye contact told me all I needed to know. Gosh, why the hell was I getting so scared at the thought of him getting beat up? I mean, I’d worry if my friend was getting beat up. Yeah, that was it. 

 

“Talk about method acting right there,” I muttered to myself, shaking my head. “Bucky is very sweet though.”

 

Chris them provided commentary about Sebastian Stan, the actor who played Bucky-

 

“He was in Black Swan?!” I looked up from my phone, where I had opened IMDB to see his filmography.

 

“OK, Naina, no getting distracted from the movie anymore.” He grabbed my phone out of my hand, and tossed it away from us. _Great, now I felt weird without having my phone within my reach._

 

“Awww, I want to give Steve a big hug,” after seeing his awkwardness on his double date with Bucky, “he’s too adorable.”

 

That made Chris smile. “Would you have dated him?”

 

“Of course! I mean, there wouldn’t have been any height differences,” I noted, “and he’s too damn sweet and noble. Such a goddamn Gryffindor.”

 

“There you go again with the nerdy references,” Chris whined.

 

“I really should have watched this movie earlier.” I whispered when I saw Stanley Tucci and Tommy Lee Jones appear on screen.

 

“It was so intimidating to work with them. You know, you look up to these actors for so long. To suddenly be in a movie with them…” He trailed off, his voice filled with awe.

 

But my favorite part was probably when I saw Hayley Atwell for the first time.

 

“Holy shit, did you see how she kicked that MCP’s ass?!” I cheered excitedly. “She’s officially my new favorite character in the movie.”

 

“What about Steve?” Chris pretended to be disappointed, and gave me those trademark puppy dog eyes.

 

“Well, she beats you by just a hair.” I shrugged, and laughed. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter who I like more, they’ll end up together-“

 

“Why would you think that-” Chris tried to throw me off track, but I wasn’t about to fall for it.

 

“Cause this is a Hollywood movie,” I retorted, “Don’t even think you can fool me into thinking that they don’t end up kissing or something.”

 

“I can see why.” Chris began telling me about the great camaraderie he had with Hayley and the other actors in some of the behind the scenes stuff.

 

“Steve is very resourceful,” I observed, during the scene where he brought down the pole without even trying to scale it. “I think Peggy just fell in love with him.”

 

Which was confirmed with the whole “waiting for the right partner” stuff. _Believe me, I can relate to that._

 

Finally, the pivotal scene came up. Where Steve Rogers became Captain America. Well, physically at least.

 

When that pod finally opened and Captain fucking America stepped out, my mouth dropped open.

 

“Wha….” I looked at Chris, speechlessly. I then let out a whistle. “No fucking way is that real.”

 

He just nodded. “Yeah, I had to eat a lot of bland chicken,” he shyly whispered, “and just do heavy weights.” Yet I could make out a slight glimmer of pride in his voice as I admired Steve’s transformation.

 

“Pretty sure I’d do the same.” I laughed as Peggy touched his chest. “But I still don’t get how your pecs got that huge?” I remarked while not-so-subtly feeling my own boobs. “Like those on screen are much bigger than mine,” I gasped, “My B cups can’t compare to your C ones”

 

“Well, I highly doubt that.” He muttered. “But we could… compare them,” he said, waggling his eyebrows, “you know…for research purposes.”

 

“Well, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” I shrugged nonchalantly. Shanna and me would always compare stupid shit like boob sizes. _And he’s just….just Chris._

 

“But you’ve already seen my boobs,” Chris whined, “there’s no need for me to-”

 

“Even so, if you’re thinking that I’m going to just show you my tits without anything in return,” I laughed, “then you don’t know me very well, Evans.” _An eye for an eye._

 

So we basically agreed to flash each other on the count of three. Simply in the name of science and research. As a doctor, I couldn’t say no to that. But we kept stopping even before starting because of our incessant giggling- like we suddenly became teenagers again.

 

“OK, are you finally ready?” I stuttered through my laughter, while Chris was sniggering and nodding.

 

“One…two… three!” We both lifted our shirts at the same time. It felt like the moment lasted a lifetime, even though was only a couple of seconds. Even though, I had already seen Chris shirtless on multiple occasions, so nothing new there, I was captivated by his muscular body. But more so, I was just trying to decipher what emotions I saw on Chris’ face.

 

His usual smugness immediately vanished as he got a glimpse of my thin lacy bra, and his eyes widened while his face turned slightly red.

 

“So… what did you think?” I asked, “Told you they were small.”

 

He gave me a shy smile; his eyes filled with this weird intensity. “I thought they were perfect,” he whispered sincerely. “You’re… beautiful.”

 

I can’t quite explain why my heartbeat quickened and my breath became more shallow.

 

And then that moment was broken as soon as I saw someone else who I loved on screen. I began to squeal, “Richard Armitage is in this too?!”

We managed to get through more of the movie with just my intermittent comments and insane amount of teasing Chris about his dancing in the song sequence “The Star Spangled Man with a Plan.”

I groaned when Steve ended up kissing Natalie Dormer’s character. _I mean, I get she’s Margaery Tyrell, but still._ During the scene where Steve saves Bucky, I wasn’t even sure anymore if I wanted Steve to end up with Bucky or Peggy.

So my heart was shattered when Bucky fell into the ravine off the train. “Nooooo…..” I cried loudly, “Bucky can’t die!” I turned to Chris who was looking straight ahead stoically. “Tell me Bucky doesn’t die!” I complained while shaking his shoulders.

“Naina, I can’t tell you anything,” Chris teased me while not making any eye contact. “You just have to keep watching to figure out, I guess.” I huffed in annoyance.

“I want to give Steve a hug…” I commented as he was trying to get drunk after Bucky’s ‘death’, “And also somehow acquire his metabolism. Then I could get as drunk and eat as much I wanted to.”

“Well, you already do eat as much as you want to,” Chris retorted as I shoveled more popcorn into my mouth ungracefully, “The drinking thing though would be useful since you’re so tiny!”

“Hey, I can’t help that!” I punched him lightly in the chest once before he grabbed hold of my wrist.

“You can’t actually hurt anyone,” he chortled, “with these baby hands of yours.”

The last thirty minutes of the movie had me wound tighter than a string on a violin. I kept biting my nails, and after that, I looked away to avoid seeing the major fighting. After Bucky’s death, I couldn’t handle any more emotional trauma.

“I can’t believe Elrond is so evil,” I whimpered into my hands, “tell me when it’s all over.”

“Naina, you’ll miss one of the most important scenes!” I peeked to make out the kiss between Steve and Peggy.

“OK, I’ll pay attention now,” I told Chris’ smug little ass as he smirked. “I just hope Steve is alright.”

Aaaannnd he wasn’t. I was tearing up and sniffling near the end of the movie as he called Peggy for the last time as he crashed the plane into the ice.

“Naina, it’s OK, Steve comes back,” Chris soothed me. “Remember the beginning of the movie? They found the aircraft in the ice.”

I immediately stopped, “What?” I spluttered out confusedly.

Chris rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Steve’s super-human, of course he’d survive the crash.” _Oh. Oh, right. You fucking idiot, there are two more movies after this._ And then came the scene where he discovers that he’s a man out of time in modern America.

And then all the other superheroes showed up in the Avengers after-credit scene came on.

                                                                  --------------

“Well, one down, two more to go,” I said, after I brought out more popcorn and more drinks. “The… Avengers is next?”

“Yes, you _presumed_ correctly,” Chris said as we both settled down once more to watch the second in the trilogy of Chis’ Marvel movies.

“Fair warning,” I admitted awkwardly, “I haven’t actually watched all the Marvel movies…”

“Which ones have you seen?” Chris asked as he turned towards me.

“Just Captain America…” I muttered as Chris shook his head judgmentally.

“You have a lot of catching up to do,” Chris said, “but I’ll explain anything that’s too confusing.

As the beginning of the movie was playing, Chris described some of the backstory that I should know going in. “Anyways, there’s this evil villain named Loki-” He clarified, pointing to a man on TV-

 _Wait, wait, wait._ “Oh my god. Is that…?

“Tom Hiddleston?” As he said that, Loki immediately wreaked havoc and kidnapped two men, inciting a big chase sequence.

I immediately started fangirling with very loud squeals. _Oh dear god, stop it, you’re embarrassing yourself._ “If I had known he was in the movie, I’d have watched every single one of these things earlier.”

“Well, he’s only in the Thor movies and this one-” Chris said as I mentally added the Thor movies to my ‘need-to-watch-very-very-soon’ list.

“How is he even more good-looking with black hair?” I sighed.  

“Well, people do get lost in Tom’s glow,” Chris chuckled as if he was enjoying some inside joke that only he was privy to. “Now that I think about it, Shanna did say-”

“Wait, wait, I can’t exactly hear what’s going on-” I interrupted Chris. There was no way in hell I wasn’t completely sucked into this universe now.

To my surprise, Scarlett Johansson, who I had last seen in ‘The Prestige’ ( _I really need to start watching more films now_ ), was in the movie, and basically kicked ass for the first half an hour. “What’s Scarlett doing in a superhero movie?” I muttered to Chris, “I now have serious girl crushes on the women in the Marvel universe.” He just laughed in agreement.

“Wait, are they in India?” I asked, as I saw Mark Ruffalo appear in what seemed to be a busy, crowded city which was revealed to be Calcutta where Bruce Banner was supposed to be hiding.

“How’s his speaking?” Chris asked as we saw Banner enunciate some words in Hindi.

“Not bad,” I laughed. “When do you show up-” _Spoke too soon._

“Steve Rogers has a nice butt,” I informed Chris as we saw him boxing to get rid of some serious tension as he literally destroyed the punching bag.

“Thank you,” Chris smiled as he enjoyed the compliment I paid him.

“I was talking about Steve, not you,” I remarked, sticking my tongue out at him.

The movie kept a brisk pace with the snappy dialogue, action sequences, and moments of humor as finally all the Avengers slowly showed up on screen. And whenever Loki/Tom Hiddleston came on screen, I’d basically start melting.

“He’s… just perfect,” I sighed dreamily, “and he looks so good in that leather.”

Pursing his lips, Chris said, “Oh, I get it, you like the ‘bad boys,’” making air quotes when he emphasized the words, “Nobody likes ‘boring’ Captain America.”

“Who doesn’t love a good villain?” I responded back. “And he’s technically just a misunderstood anti-hero, that’s all.” _He’s just so charismatic._ “And Tom’s British accent with the way he speaks-” I shuddered as I spoke, “I am fully in love with the guy.”

“So it’s the British accent,” Chris muttered darkly. “So predictable, Naina.”

“And he’s tall, has that dark hair, and those blue colored eyes,” I gushed dreamily, “And he’s so charismatic.”

“Well, I have those things too,” Chris insisted stubbornly. Counting on his fingers, he said, “I’m tall, blue-eyed, brunette, and I have a Bostonian accent-”

“Did you just compare a Bostonian accent to a British one?” I gasped in astonishment, “That’s just comparing apples and oranges. And your accent only comes out when you’ve had too much to drink.”

So for the entire Avengers movie, every quip Chris made about the movie and the behind the scenes stuff, he had to really emphasize his accent. _It was a really big turn on_. But I wasn’t about to tell him that.

After we had gotten through most of the middle portion of the movie where Chris made sure to make fun of me for not knowing that Bruce Banner’s ‘other guy’ was the Hulk.

“It’s just too funny,” Chris roared with laughter. My confusion was only cleared up as Banner morphed into the Hulk.

Action sequence after action sequence commenced with snippets of banter ( _and a lot of sass_ ) between the Avengers. They all had great chemistry with each other, especially in that scene where they faced off against that army together.

 _And Chris was so damn hot as the Captain giving orders_. My mind obviously wandered straight into the gutter with thoughts about Chris and I… _Stop it, he’s sitting right next to you._

Coulson’s death hit me hard, but the entertaining (and nerve-wracking) climactic battle more than made up for it. Especially since Captain America kept getting beat up again and again in each movie; seeing Chris get hurt like that kept making me wince. I’m not sure if Chris noticed until I found his hand clasped around my own.

But Chris kept getting annoyed as I pestered him about Loki and Tom Hiddleston.

“I’m slightly sad that Loki lost,” I mused as we reached the end of the movie, “but I suppose now I have to go back and watch the Thor movies to see him again!” I was so excited about the thought of seeing more of Tom.

“But you were good too,” I praised Chris, patting him on the back. “Good job with Cap.”

“I just can’t believe you liked Tom Hiddleston’s character over mine.” Chris shook his head in disappointment. “You’re Indian and American- the British fucked you over twice.”

That made me lose it. I couldn’t stop laughing when Chris said, as if I’d personally offended him, “You’re betraying both of your countries!”

I snorted at the idea of being ashamed for committing treason against two countries. “Well, I just love Tom Hiddleston’s work,” I mused, “he’s one of the only actors whose career I kept following through college and medical school.”

“You hadn’t seen any of my work, had you?” Chris coyly asked. “Before now?”

“Not until Snowpiercer,” I chuckled, “Shanna mentioned you were an actor, but I didn’t quite get around to seeing much of your work.”

“Did you like what you saw?” Chris teasingly asked me. _Two can play this game._

Biting my lower lip, I leaned in to whisper into his ear, “I very much enjoyed it.”

                                                -------------------------------------

“OK, now it’s the Winter Soldier,” I triumphantly exclaimed as I loaded in the DVD after we took one last break. _The last round._

“I think you’ll like this one,” Chris smirked, “Steve is much darker in this movie. And you’ve made it very clear that you like the ‘bad boys,’” which made me giggle.  

We settled in to watch the last movie. Since it was close to sunset, the apartment was slightly colder that usual without the warm sunlight, which made me start to shiver.

“How are you so damn warm?” I murmured as I moved in closer to Chris.

“Because you feel cold all the time,” he whispered enticingly as he blew some air onto my neck. Immediately, the hairs on my arm stood at attention, and I giggled. “Stop, Chris, I’m too ticklish…” _Oh. Fuck_.

His eyes flashed with a hint of playfulness, and he started to tickle me. ( _Shit, control yourself_ ) I started to snort really loudly ( _kind of like a pig_ ), which seemed to just spur him on.

“Fuck, stop, stop, Chris! Look, the movie is starting,” I whispered breathlessly, “And it’s in DC?!”

He looked at me blankly. “Why is that so-”

“I would commute to my medical school classes in DC, Chris,” I exclaimed, “You probably filmed the movie when I was in the city!” Chris just shook his head at my enthusiasm. He then told me about the filming near all the monuments and the museums as he launched into explanations about the minute details of it all.

There was much more humor in this movie, and the action scenes were intense, and just made Chris as Captain America seem even hotter.

“You know I had to take gymnastics classes for this,” Chris exclaimed proudly. _That doesn’t help, dude._  I was trying very hard to not squirm in my seat as he kicked ass and took down the mercenaries with the equally capable Black Widow.

As the movie progressed, the plot became hyper-realistic and more convoluted. Of course the scene with Peggy and Steve in the nursing room made me tear up. There was also the great acting from the likes of-

“Robert fucking Redford is in this movie?!” I slapped Chris’ arm. “What was it like working it him?”

This time, we both gushed over the great actor as Chris talked his excitement when he’d heard the directors were casting him.

“They could have paid me nothing and I’d still have fallen over my feet to work with him.” He said eagerly.

Besides the lighter moments between Steve and Natasha, I was on the edge of my seat during the entire movie. I was already pretty nervous in the other two movies, but it wasn’t too bad since I knew Chris would make an appearance in the next movies. Now I wasn’t so sure. And all the action sequences that had Chris beating people up and getting beat up weren’t helping either.

Long story short: by the end of the movie, when Steve was getting pummeled by the Winter Soldier (who I was not expecting to be Bucky from the first movie), we ended up almost cuddling since I had my face burrowed into Chris’ upper arm.

“Sacrifice and friendship always get me in the feels,” I sobbed. Plus, seeing Chris’ face beat up like that really got me.

“Aww, do you need a hug?” he softly asked. I silently nodded.

He proceeded to wrap his strong arms around me, hugging me real tight as I rested my head on his torso. We stayed in that position for some time as I made myself kind of comfortable in his embrace. _Maybe it’s just me or this hug seems slightly tighter than usual._

It definitely ended up being longer than usual as I only unwrapped myself out of his embrace after Steve recovered in the hospital.

“I am thoroughly exhausted after that,” I yawned as I stretched my sore muscles out.

“I’m exhausted from your commentary. I feel like you talked more than I did, and I was in the damn thing,” Chris muttered. “Do you always talk that much when watching movies or was today some special occasion?"

I began to gather up all the trash from the popcorn and drinks. “No, usually I never shut up during films.”

“Well, I wanted to shut you up the entire time!” Chris chuckled.

“And how do you suppose you were going to do that?” I retorted, while still looking away.

I turned to look at Chris who looked slightly conflicted. Then, with this strange determination, he leaned slightly forward so our faces were at the same level, gently grasped my chin with one finger, and softly whispered, “Well, I was going to kiss you.”

My body and mind immediately froze up, and all I could do was stare dumbly at Chris as his large hand touched my face, his thumb stroking the apple of my cheek. All I could do was close my eyes as his luscious red lips were about to descend upon mine.

Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! 
> 
> And also I'm wondering if people are connecting with the story and with Naina's story in general, and if there is anything I can do to make it better! At this point, all I do know is that there are a ton of racist commentators, which has been the cause of some writer's block. 
> 
> In an ideal world I would write this solely for myself, but I wouldn't put it on the Internet if I didn't want to share this story. Please do comment and leave feedback/your thoughts because the less comments I see, the less I think people care. :D


	12. Chapter Twelve

I found myself unable to breathe – I was drowning in Chris’s ocean-like blue eyes.  My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest as his thumb stroked the apple of my cheek.  His face came closer and closer; my eyes inadvertently closed as I waited for our lips to meet, and my arm automatically started to snake its away around his neck when-

“Hey, Chris!” Ananth burst into the room and Chris and I jumped apart as if we had been electrocuted. The fuzzy haze clouding my thoughts faded away just as quickly as it had arrived. “Didn’t expect to see you here,” he said, as he glanced our pillow fort, surrounded by candy wrappers, empty popcorn bags, and soda cans. And of course, I couldn’t forget Chris’ multiple beer bottles.

“What are you guys watching?” He stood in front of television for a split second until he figured it out. “Winter Soldier?!”

He then made himself comfortable between Chris and I as he started geeking out about watching a Captain America movie with the Captain himself. I could feel Chris sneaking peeks in my direction from the other side of the couch, but I didn’t look back at him. _I just couldn’t face him after… after that._

My oblivious brother chattered on, even though I felt like the tension in the air could have been cut with a knife.

 “I’m gonna… start cleaning the trash up,” I muttered, looking for an excuse to escape the suffocating atmosphere, “does anyone want anything from the kitchen?”  

Chris started to get up, offering to help me ( _knowing him, he’d probably try to make out with me once we were alone in the kitchen_ ). Luckily, Ananth tugged his arm to make him sit back down, saying that it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to learn more about the behind the scenes stuff, and insisting that “Naina was so used to doing stuff like this.” I rolled my eyes at my brother’s sexist comment. _Jackass._

As I disposed of the trash, I saw a small stack of dirty dishes in the sink, left over from last night. In fact, the entire kitchen was a mess because Chris had interrupted my cleaning session with our movie marathon _. Fuck_. I started to scrub down all the dishes in the sink, the soap suds bubbling up my arms. I didn’t know whether to hug Ananth or murder him. 

* * *

 

As I drove back home from the hospital on near- empty roads (or as close you can get in Boston) at the crack of dawn _,_ all I could think about was the comfortable bed and the Chris Evans movie awaiting my return. How we had managed to avoid talking about what had happened between us a couple of days ago was beyond me.   _That was a good thing, though._

 _God, I just need to collapse on my bed and die._ I was completely exhausted from my twenty-four hour shift at the hospital. The pediatric ward was unusually busy with a minor car accident.  Luckily, nobody had been seriously injured, but there had been enough minor injuries to keep me on my toes.

As I let myself into the house, I dropped my bag near the front door and went into the kitchen to make myself something to eat. Recently, I decided to go through Chris’s filmography to see something besides _Snowpiercer_ and those Marvel movies we watched together.

Since his ego had become too inflated after I praised him for those movies, I now needed more blackmail material to make fun of him.

And apparently I had hit gold with this movie called _Not Another Teen Movie_. Just the cover assured me that I was in for a treat.  Granted, I’d have to cut him a lot of slack since that was his first movie.

However, that right there is a huge maybe.

“There’s some chai left for you on the stove, Nainu.” _Wait a minute, that voice (and the only person who would ever call me that) sounded like…_

“Meera...?” My younger sister was just casually sitting at the dining table, as if it was completely normal to have her suddenly appear in my apartment.

 “Wasn’t your flight supposed to come in later?” I rushed over to hug her. “I was going to pick you up-”

“I took an earlier flight out so … I could come see you and Ananth sooner.” In retrospect, I should have known something was up; however, my sleep deprived brain was so excited to see her after such a long time that her hesitation completely flew over my head.

We chatted for some time since we hadn’t talked in a long time until, after a lull in the conversation, my sister blurted out, “I have something to tell you.”

“Yeah, what-.”

Before I could finish what I was about to say, she blurted out, “I have a boyfriend.”

I nearly choked on my tea, and barely managed to splutter out, “Come again?”

“That’s why I came early… to meet Sanjay.” She sighed while staring down at her empty mug.

“And you didn’t tell me this earlier _why_?” I scolded. “Do Amma and Dad know?”

 She let out a sarcastic laugh. “Don’t be stupid, Nainu-”

“Don’t call me that.” I retorted. Usually when she referred to me by my nickname, I’d brush it off. But all I could think about was how she had betrayed me. “You know that Amma will _murder_ you.”

 “His name is Sanjay Baliga - he’s Konkani,” she lamely finished.

After processing all the information my sister had just thrown at me, I reasoned aloud, “So Amma and Dad won’t have a problem with you two officially dating.”

We obviously weren’t on the same page, because she blurted out at the exact same time, “With us getting married!”

_Wait. What?_

“What the FUCK?” I yelled incredulously. “You’ve already decided you’re getting married?”

“Why else would I have come all this way to tell you? To see the city of Boston?” She responded, every word dripping with sarcasm. “Naina. Just hear me out, OK?”

I slouched in my seat and crossed my arms. “Fine.”

“Sanjay and I met in dental school-”

“And you fell in love,” I spat.  Leave it to my sister to fuck everything up.

“Shut up,” my sister snapped back, and continued, “He’s older than me - twenty-eight - and wants to settle down soon.”

“So just get married then,” I responded nonchalantly.

“Don’t be dumb Naina. I’d have to tell our parents that I was dating behind their backs. Besides, you know they wouldn’t let me get married before you.”

Now the puzzle pieces were falling into place.  In my family, it was traditional for the older siblings to marry first, meaning that, in order for my sister to have her happy ending –

“I need to get married soon.”

“Exactly!”

I massaged my temples and internally groaned. _Just perfect._

                                        

* * *

 

“Did you finish the tiramisu?” I asked, walking out of my room as soon as I finished getting myself ready. “You have a nice choice in [salwar kameez suits](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=195085738) even though I don’t like these stupid heels.”

“Just did,” Meera sighed, placing the dessert in the fridge. “It fits you nicely, don’t complain! And the heels give you much needed height.”

“Shut up,” I mumbled, pouting at my sister. “you’re only a couple inches taller than me.”

She laughed, “Anyway, how’s the coconut curry looking?”

After undoing my braid, I poured the curry out of the pot on the stove and into the bowl. “Taste it and tell me?”

She took a small spoonful of my concoction, and debated for a moment before teasing, “Not as good as Amma’s… but passable since only Shanna and Scott are coming.”

Her comment made my anxiety levels spike, and I willed myself to calm down. _Please let everyone like the food._

Shaking those thoughts from my head, I decided to focus on something else. “So Shanna and Scott should be coming around seven,” I said, “and when will my future brother-in-law show up?”

Meera blushed, which was uncharacteristic for my oh-so-stoic sister, and giggled at the thought of her husband-to-be. “He should be here around eight.”

_I think I just puked a little._

I pulled on some rubber gloves, and was busy cleaning the dirty dishes, when I heard the doorbell ring. “Meera, can you get that?”

She didn’t respond, and the doorbell rang again. I turned back to look at her, but she had this dreamy, dazed look on her face.

I rolled my eyes at my sister’s ridiculous behavior and silently cursed Sanjay for turning my usually apathetic sister into such a simpering fool.

“Bring the appetizers!” I pulled the gloves off and threw them violently in front of her as I briskly walked towards the door.

I opened it and smiled at the sight of Shanna and Scott. “Hey guys, come in!” I laughed and hugged them. “You guys can go into the living room. Meera should be there with the food!”

I then took their jackets from them, and when I turned around, Shanna was still standing right there with a very guilty look on her face.

“What’s up?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“Umm I’m not sure if you meant to invite Chris to this dinner,” she said, “but he kind of invited himself-“

The doorbell rang at that very moment, and Chris walked through the door. _Speak of the devil._

“Hey Naina!” Chris exclaimed as he closed the door behind him. He walked over and hugged me tightly.

Keeping my arms rigid, I awkwardly patted his back. “Hi.” _Please let him not bring up the almost-kiss._

“Can we talk afterwards?” he whispered as his lips slightly grazed my ear.  

“Of course,” I responded with a tight smile. “Come on in.”

We all sat down in the living room and made ourselves comfortable. Shanna, Scott, and Meera had quickly made themselves at home on the sofa. So Chris and I had to situate ourselves on the loveseat.

Chris made himself pretty comfortable next to me, while everyone else was catching up on what was going on in each other’s lives; from Scott’s life L.A. to anecdotes about Shanna’s art students.

Whenever Chris would say something, he unconsciously touched my knee or hand as he leaned forward. Shanna and Scott knew how touchy Chris was, they didn’t think anything of it. Every time it happened, I’d catch my sister staring at us. _Well isn’t this awkward._

After about half an hour, my sister and I took the empty appetizer plates into the kitchen to get dinner ready.

After we finished heating the food, my sister started to say something as she leaned against the kitchen countertop. “So, Naina, there’s something that I need to tell you.”

“Yes?” I asked this hesitantly since I wasn’t prepared for any more surprises, what with Chris showing up and all. But then again, how many more surprises could I possibly get tonight?

The doorbell rang, and both of us scrambled to get to the door.

“Naina, wait, wait, that’s Sanjay,” my sister exclaimed, “I’ll get it-“

“No, I want to see my future brother-in-law first,” I stubbornly insisted, playfully shoving her out of the way, “Stay put, blushing bride-to-be.”

When I opened the door, I found not one, but two guys standing there. _What?_

I was speechless as my sister hugged and smooched her boyfriend Sanjay.  He gave me an awkward hug, and introduced his friend, Ravi, who shook my hand uncomfortably.

My sister directed Sanjay and Ravi into the next room, and I looked at her strangely. “Why did Sanjay bring his friend?” I asked, “Not that I mind, but…”

My sister nudged me, and waggled her eyebrows. “He’s single.”

“Are you setting me up,” I asked incredulously, “at my own dinner party?  Why?”

“Because I _can_ ,” she insisted, giving me a push towards the living room. “and I _have_ to. Now go and tell everyone that dinner is ready.”

I went into the living room, where Shanna, Scott, and Chris were sitting. “Hey guys, dinner is ready in the kitchen.”

Shanna and Scott bounded out of the living room; either intentionally or unintentionally, leaving Chris and me alone.

 _This is a bad idea_ … I thought, seeing how Chris was looking at me.

 “So, we should probably go now,” I muttered, trying to run away from all my problems. Chris, however, wasn’t having any of that.

As I turned away from him, he suddenly grabbed my wrist, and, because I have no sense of coordination, I tumbled directly onto his lap.

I let out a small screech, gasping, “What are you doing?”

“Can we talk now?” Chris interrupted me, giving me that puppy dog look with his deep blue eyes. 

“My sister is in the next room, so that’s a no.” I responded, squirming as he gripped my waist tightly, almost tickling me. “If she finds us here like this, she will _murder_ me.”

“So there’s no way I can convince you-” he interrupted me with a gleam in his eyes, bringing his face closer to mine, “that we should talk about what happened last time.”

“Nope.” I said, “Now come on!”

“Not even like this?” He whispered, placing his hand on my neck and peppering three light kisses softly on my cheek. Even though my mind was telling me to fight these strange feelings that I had for Chris, I couldn’t help but melt into a puddle, especially when he told me how beautiful I looked.

“NAINA?” my sister screeched from the kitchen. I immediately jumped off of Chris’s comfortable lap and straightened myself out, trying to slow my erratic heartbeat and hide my blush.

“Let’s go before she actually kills the both of us,” I said.

When we went into the kitchen, my sister immediately started the introductions. “So this is Sanjay, my boyfriend,” she gushed, clinging onto his hand and never taking her eyes off him.  I stifled a laugh as I made eye contact with Chris, who pretended to gag. 

Meera cleared her throat, prompting me to introduce Guy #2 in a long line of acceptable future husbands, according to my family. “And this is Ravi, Sanjay’s close friend,” I said awkwardly, as Ravi came to stand awfully close to me.

Ravi extended his hand to Chris, whose face was reddening more by the minute. There was an awkward pause before he coldly shook Ravi’s outstretched hand. “What’s up, man?” he quickly muttered.

_Uh-oh, he seems kind of pissed._

All throughout dinner, I tried to interpret Chris’s expressions, but he refused to meet my eye.  He and the suitor were sitting across the table right next to each other, thanks to Meera.

“So, Raa-vi, right?” Chris turned to him, “What do you do?”

“I’m an architect, actually, at a firm in downtown Boston,” he continued to talk about his recent designs.

“You’re an actor, right?” Ravi asked, “I’ve seen some of those movies you’ve been in.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve done indie films and those big budget movies,” Chris said nonchalantly, keeping an eye on the other man’s impressed reaction, “and I recently directed my own movie-”

The dinner didn’t go to well, and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I’d be willing to bet Meera and Sanjay, oblivious to the awkward atmosphere, were totally playing footsie underneath the table; the tension between Chris and Ravi was almost palpable; and poor Shanna and Scott were caught in the middle.

_Maybe I could use something on the table to knock myself out._

And to top things off, every time Ravi would make any sort of joke or quip, Chris just stared at him; apparently Chris had left his sense of humor, and his manners, at home.

“Did you like the coconut curry?” I asked Chris when I was picking up everyone’s plates. “Meera made the tiramisu we’re having for desert.”

“It was OK,” he said indifferently, “It wasn’t as good as I remember it.”

I was slightly hurt by his derisive comment. “What’s your problem?”

His eyes were looking anywhere but at me. “I just don’t feel so well right now,” he said lamely.

I put my hand out to feel his forehead. “Maybe some Motrin will help-”

“No,” he snapped as he pushed my hand away, “It’s fine. I’m just going to head home.”

“Oh, OK.” _Wow, that was sudden._

He quickly said goodbye to Shanna and Scott, and on his way out, after taking his coat from me, he gave me a hug that left me cold.

He turned away, but, pausing for a moment, he shot back over her shoulder, “You bounce back pretty quick, don’t you?”

That knocked the breath right out of me.  I was left gaping and speechless on my own doorstep. _By someone I thought was my friend._

What the hell was I thinking hosting this dinner for my stupid sister?

Taking a deep breath, I wiped away the unshed tears in my eyes. I turned back to see Ravi standing there. _Awkward_. Hopefully he hadn’t heard what Chris said. So I quickly put on a smile, and said, “Hey, Ravi, what’s up?”

“This is kind of awkward,” Ravi hesitantly responded, “But I was wondering whether we could talk outside.”

“Yeah, sure.”

 “Obviously, Meera and Sanjay wanted us to get together,” Ravi responded. “I like you, Naina. You’re exactly who I’m expected to marry-”

“I know what you mean,” I sighed.

“No you don’t, actually.”

“I’m sorry?” I said, a little taken aback. He quickly continued. 

 “Listen, I don’t want to begin any sort of relationship on lies.” He took a deep breath before going on. “I’m gay. And I haven’t told anyone yet.”

_Well, that was unexpected._

He didn’t stop there. “So if we were to start dating,-”

“I’d basically be your beard?”

His face showed signs of relief. “Yeah, exactly!”

_Not gonna happen._

“Ravi…” I sighed, trying to let him down gently, “on top of this arranged marriage nonsense right now, I really don’t think I could handle something like that.”

Thankfully, he was very understanding. We talked for a little while more, until Sanjay decided to come and say goodbye to us, claiming that he had an early morning tomorrow at the dentists’ office.

So then I decided to play match-maker. If my sister could meddle like that, I guess I could try to take a leaf out of her book.

“So, Ravi, you do know Scott is gay, right?”

                                    

* * *

 

Long story short, Scott and Ravi hit it off, and left around the same time to go get some “drinks.” Shanna helped with cleaning up the dessert, and also said her goodbyes. 

“So how’d you like my dinner party,” I asked as I scrubbed the dishes, “It went off pretty well.”

“Forget that nonsense,” my sister responded, clutching her mug of freshly brewed chai. “Tell me, what did you think of Ravi? Do I hear wedding bells?”

“Well, none besides yours,” I sighed, “I didn’t like Ravi.” He hadn’t even come out yet to anyone, so I had to take the majority of the blame for the potential relationship not working out.

She slammed the mug down, sloshing her tea everywhere. “What’s wrong with Ravi, Naina?” Counting on her fingers, she snarled, “He’s only a year older than you, he’s successful, he’s not bad looking!”

“No, there’s nothing at all wrong with Ravi-”

“It’s Chris, isn’t it?” she said, “There was something weird going on there that I couldn’t quite understand.”

Apparently my moment of hesitation and my slight blush gave her all the answers she needed.

“What the hell, Naina?” she yelled, “You can’t fool around with him!”

“Opposites attract, as they say.” I added, “All those classic love stories have people overcoming their differences-“

“Half of those people die in those stories, Naina,” she moaned, “ever heard of Romeo and Juliet?  Look where forbidden love got them!  Besides, you need to get married soon!“

“I’ve already hear it enough from our parents.” I hissed curtly. “You don’t need to keep telling me something that Amma tells me on a daily basis, Meera.” I took a deep breath to control my emotions, and continued.  “Every month, my photos and profile get sent to more men, and I get send more of their profiles.” I sighed. “The cycle just never ends.”

“So what the hell are you going to do?” my sister protested. “Just give up on Amma and Dad, and start dating Chris?”

“No! And I won’t run halfway across the country to hide from my problems like-“

“-like I did?” My sister yelled. “Well, you’re on the same path, about to make the same mistake that I made! Except your mistake will be named Chris, not John.”

“I won’t make the same mistakes as you, Meera.” I coldly spat at her.

“Don’t be stupid, Naina,” Meera laughed sarcastically. “Do you really think that he likes you? He’ll say that he loves you, that you’ll be together forever, just to get you into his bed.  And then he’ll leave. The affections of men like him is fickle.”

She grabbed my hand, and made me sit down next to her, “Why do you think I’m dating Sanjay?”

“Because you like him?” I asked confusedly.

“Well, that’s true,” she responded, “but I know he can’t leave me like that. Our marriage will create a bond between not just him and I, but our entire families. Relationships like that don’t break easily.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Trust me, Naina, John or Chris isn’t the type of person you want to end up with. You need to date someone like-minded; someone from our culture. Try to understand.”

Knowing how much my sister’s illicit affair had hurt my parents caused me even more pain. _I couldn’t put them through that again._ I was used to sacrificing my dreams and wishes for the sake of my parents, so I resigned myself to the idea of signing away my future for my own sister’s happiness.

“Fine. You don’t have anything to worry about,” I sighed wearily. “So who’s the next guy?”

 

* * *

 Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait in between chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading; please do leave comments and feedback because the less comments I see, the less I think people care, and you guys are the biggest motivators to keep writing :D
> 
> Naina's outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=195085738


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So the traditional South Asian outfit of a saree has 3 parts- the blouse (similar to a crop top), the petticoat (skirt), and the actual drape (that is yards long) that goes around the body. It may help to take a look at these links before reading if you aren't familiar with the outfit since some descriptions are mentioned in the chapter! Enjoy
> 
> Here is the tutorial viewed by Naina and Chris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEuaSBe7jQg
> 
> A Wikihow is here: http://www.wikihow.com/Dress-in-a-Sari
> 
> Naina’s outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/nainas_date_saree_outfit/set?id=196393442

“Shit!” I screamed as the straightening iron scalded my scalp. I’m pretty sure I just burned half my hair off.

“Are you dying in there?” Ananth yelled from the living room.

“I’m fine!” I quickly responded. _No I’m not._

He came into my room, where I was engaged in a fight to the death with my long curls. Unfortunately, those unruly ringlets were winning the battle.

But I would win the war; after I took a break from my hair and maybe put some makeup on instead.  

“I’m going out but I’m probably going to be back late,” Ananth said.  Nowadays, he was hanging out more with his friends on the weekends rather than spending time in my apartment. “When do you have to leave?” he asked, pulling on his boots.

“I have a good two hours to get ready.”

“What’s the guy’s name again?”

“Ashwin.”

“Where are you meeting him?”

“At that Indian restaurant nearby.” _How typical._ I could tell by Ananth’s smirk that he was thinking the same thing, but I answered my brother’s thoughts before he could voice them. “Don’t say anything, he’s the one who decided where we were going.”

Ananth’s phone buzzed with a text notification. “Gotta go now, Richard’s waiting outside.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” I warned, as I combed through all the knots in my hair.

“Same to you,” my brother retorted, mimicking my tone. “Don’t fuck up the date, otherwise you won’t hear the end of it from Meera Akka, and Amma.”

I flipped my brother off as he walked out of my room.

After I finished straightening almost all of my long hair, my head and hand was starting to hurt from all the abuse I was putting it through. _If only this guy liked curly hair…_

I was taking a break from all that nonsense by munching on left over fruit salad, when my own phone buzzed. I rolled my eyes when I saw there were two missed calls and a couple of missed texts from Chris.

The fact that he was communication with me at all was surprising. We had both given each other the cold shoulder for the past week or so, which kind of sucked. That is, until I remembered what an _asshole_ this guy was at dinner _._ Shaking my head, I muted all my notifications.  I wasn’t in the mood to be bothered by him.

Right as I finished my snack, I heard the doorbell ring. _Weird, I wasn’t expecting anyone._

Apparently I paused too long because this person knocked really loudly— multiple times.

“Alright, alright” I groaned, “I’m coming!”

It was the wrong decision not to check the peephole before opening the door, because standing outside was the last person I wanted to see.

“Hey,” Chris greeted me with a hesitant smile, “Can I come in?”

I paused for a long moment, debating whether or not I should just slam the door in his face. Instead I wordlessly stepped aside and let him into my apartment.

He sat down on the couch, and I stood uncomfortably in front of him. “Oh, here are some chocolates for you by the way,” he said, handing me a box of my favorite white chocolate truffles. Damn it, not forgiving him was going to be much harder than I thought.  

“Thanks,” I dryly muttered, taking it from him. I’d probably use it while stress-eating over my messy life with Chris.

 Now that the atmosphere was sufficiently awkward, I broke the prolonged silence by saying, “There’s some chai on the stove, I’ll get some for you.”

“Wait, Naina,” he responded, grabbing my wrist, as I turned to go, “hear me out for a minute.”

After letting out a sigh, I cautiously sat down next him. After a moment of silence, I asked, “Why did you come here Chris? I don’t have time-”

He took a deep breath before saying, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did that night. Or said those things.”

I looked at him questioningly.  He sighed and said, in way of explanation, “Last night, I _may_ have walked in on Scott and Ravi-”

I held up a hand _._ “Stop right there. I don’t want to know any more.”

He broke into a grin, making it even harder for me to not to smile at his apology. I wasn’t about to let him off that easily.

“But why did you come here now?” I said, when I recovered. “If you think that you can just waltz in here, asking for forgiveness, and that I’ll just automatically forget everything, you’re wrong. The dinner was very awkward, and Meera gave me an earful about it-”

“I wanted to apologize as soon as I realized what an idiot I am,” he said earnestly, interrupting me. “Especially since I’m leaving tomorrow for China because of a golf tournament and filming commitments. Will you forgive me?”

How could I say no to that face? After a pause, I answered, mainly because he was leaving the next day, “Fine, but there’s one thing you’ll have to do for me.”

“What’s that?”

“I have a date tonight,” I sighed, “with some hot-shot lawyer apparently.” And I haven’t been on an actual formal date in a restaurant…” I didn’t want to actually ask him aloud.

“And?” He probed further, probably unsure of where I was going with this.

“The problem is, I haven’t been on an actual dinner date in ages… basically I need some tips,” I finished.  “Y’know since you’re such a lady killer,” I added jokingly. 

As I said this, Chris’ face turned bright red, and he started to stutter, “Um, I haven’t actually dated that much.”

“Don’t make me laugh Evans,” I scoffed. “You think I’d believe that, looking like that,” I gestured to his glorious body, “you haven’t been around the block a couple of times?”

He smirked, and, raising an eyebrow, said, “So you think I’m hot?”

“You’re aesthetically pleasing, yes,” I acquiesced. “in the conventional way.  Getting back to the topic….”

His smirk dropped for a moment, as some unreadable emotion glistened in his eyes. Something was up with him, but I couldn’t quite figure out what. He clapped his hands once, snapping me out of my reverie. 

 “So you want some dating tips,” Chris said. “OK, so guys really like when women are real-”

“What the hell is a ‘real woman’?” I asked, putting air quotes around the last part. “Someone who’s actually breathing?”

He completely ignored me. “Like, try to be aloof,” he added, “Guys like it when a woman plays hard to get.”

“Noted. What else?”

Counting off of his fingers, he continued, “Order the most expensive food. Otherwise you’ll just look like you’re cheap, like you don’t know how to have a good time.”

“Alright, anything else?”

“And don’t be afraid to order a lot of food—eat a lot,” Chris offered, “Guys don’t like the whole ‘women who just eats salad.’”

 “That’s actually helpful,” I said. “Thanks.”

“Here to help,” He leaned back comfortably, smiling with self-satisfaction. 

I glanced at the clock - time had apparently flown. “Shit! I only have a hour to get ready!”

I stumbled up from where I was sitting and ran to my room.  I started to throw things all around, managing to get all the pieces for the outfit Amma had decided for me.  

“You look really different with your hair like that.” Chris said, leaning against the door.

“It’s just straightened,” I responded, sitting down to finish straightening the small amount of hair that was still curly. “Why, you don’t like it?”

He came and stood next to me, which made me stiffen in my seat. I didn’t want to do something that I’d later regret. Taking a seat next to me, he tugged on one of the last ringlets that hadn’t been straightened, and murmured, “You don’t look like you when your hair is straight.”

“Well, apparently most guys like don’t like curly hair,” I retorted, relaxing a tiny bit. “And Amma said it makes me look older.”

Seeing me struggle with the curls near the nape of my neck, Chris took the straightening iron out of my hand, and began helping me finish the tedious process.

“You know how to straighten hair?” I said, fear piercing my every word. I was not ready for any accidents.  

“I did grow up with two sisters,” Chris admitted, “so I’ve done all sorts of braiding, straightening and curling of hair.”

He shut the straightening iron off and placed it on the table.  “There, all done.”

“I like how big your hair gets when its curly. It’s cute.” He whispered into my ear, “I love some tight, bouncy curls to pull on-”

My mouth dropped open at his blatant flirting, and turned around and slapped his arm. “Stop it!” I said with a laugh.

I stood up and took a long look in the mirror. “I’m pretty sure I just lost a couple inches on my height because of my hair.’’

“Well, on the plus side, you don’t look like a hobbit anymore,” he laughed. 

“If you meant that in a derogatory way,” I retorted, “it didn’t work because I love _Lord of the Rings_. Nice job for that reference, by the way, especially since you haven’t seen the movies.”

“Thanks,” he said, his voice bursting with pride. I just rolled my eyes in response.

Now that my hair was done, I had to struggle to put on some makeup, jewelry, and, of course, a saree.

“Now get out,” I shooed him outside of the room, “I need to get changed.”

After he left the room, my phone beeped with a text from my mom.

     **6:37 PM – Amma**

**Wear the green saree tonight with Ashwin. And I expect results.**

I rolled my eyes at my mother’s text. Pulling out the simple puke-green saree that my mother liked, I scoffed at it in disgust. Maybe I could wear something else instead; it’s not like she’d ever find out. As I ruffled through my wardrobe, I found one of favorite lilac- colored sarees that my mother thought was “too gawdy and elaborate.”           

I slipped into the blouse and petticoat, wishing that my slight weight gain had either gone to my boobs or ass. I then started to struggle with the process of putting on the saree drape, but I kept tripping and stumbling over the long yards of fabric that I had to intricately wrap around myself.

In all types of emergency situations, either in the hospital or outside of it, I usually have backup plans to my backup plans. I proceeded to plan A, which was calling up Meera to help me. I debated texting Amma, but she would just end up lecturing me about how I was “so uncultured” and how “she’d failed as a mother” because I couldn’t properly tie the six yards of fabric around myself.

I called my sister, but apparently she had better things to do with her life since it went straight to voicemail. Ugh, she wouldn’t be able to help me. Now, onto plan B. I grabbed my laptop and turned it on, pressing on all the keys to make it boot up faster. I opened up YouTube and searched ‘how to put on a saree tutorials.’

I attempted to put on the saree alone but, even with the help of the ladies on screen, I couldn’t quite get the it to sit elegantly on my body.

So, still standing only in my blouse and petticoat, completely baring my midriff, I went to plan C - the plan I hoped I wouldn’t have to use.

“Chris,” I asked, turning to yell into the hallway, “Can you come in here for a moment?” 

He came back into my room, and I heard his voice catch in his throat as he spluttered out, “Yeah, what’s up?”

“I’m really running late,” I said, with my back turned to him, trying to gather all the fabric in my arms, “and I normally wouldn’t ask you this, but could you maybe to help me wear this saree?”

I heard him mutter, “Of course.”

“Can you do the back of the blouse?” I requested, moving my long tresses over my shoulder, exposing the nape of my neck and the back of the blouse.

I felt Chris move up to tower behind me. His presence was oddly reassuring as his fingers, skimming my exposed upper back, tied the strings that held the garment together. I shuddered when one of his large hands, touching my bare skin, held the back of my waist as he slowly zipped up the blouse. In that very moment, all I wanted to do was lean into his embrace. This stupid internal conflict would be the death of me.

“All done,” he whispered seductively in my ear, his lips almost grazing my upper ear.

“Thanks,” I whispered breathlessly, “now I need to put on the saree drape. Can you hold the end of the cloth?”

We followed the video step-by-step as he brought the drape around my body once, his fingers trailing across my navel, and began to fold the saree into pleats. It took a couple of tries to completely get a hang of it.

“No, Chris, just walk over to me,” I said, exasperatedly. “I’ll pleat it from this end.”

When I started pleating the saree, I ended up pulling Chris closer to me, and he helped me tuck the pleats into my petticoat. I ended up facing his chest, my body almost flush against his.

“You know if you wanted to stand this close to me,” Chris murmured as his hands caressed my bare waist, as I avoided looking into his eyes, “you just had to ask.”

Sticking my tongue out at him, I gave him a light shove away. Then, we wrapped the saree around me once more before I took the end of the saree drape and placed it over my shoulder. “Done,” I said, putting a pin to hold the outfit together. “Thanks for that.”

I went to the mirror to finish my makeup and put on my jewelry.

“I haven’t seen you with this much makeup on,” Chris observed as he came up behind me and quickly clasped the necklace around my neck.  

“Haven’t had to impress many people here in Boston,” I retorted with a laugh, putting on some earrings, mascara, eyeliner, powder, and eyeshadow. I started to put some bangles, but because they were slightly too small, I wasn’t able to easily push them around my wrist.

“What about me?” He said as walked around me, and took ahold of my forearm, which made my eyes widen. He then wordlessly took the bangles out of my hand, and slipped them over my wrist slowly. All the while, his eyes never looked away from my own.

Breaking eye contact, I pulled my wrist out of his grip. “I didn’t have to work very hard to impress you,” I mumbled as I put on a bindi between my eyebrows. “Now all I have to do is put these anklets on.”

That was easier said than done. The saree that I had chosen was heavily embroidered, which meant that I struggled to lift up the skirts and clasp on the anklets.

“Here, let me help,” Chris said. He bent down and gently took my pedicured foot into his hands, and placed it on his knee. It gave me a perverse pleasure to see him kneeling down at my feet. He slowly brought the silver anklets around each of my ankles and clasped it over my foot. He then took my champagne-gold heels and eased my feet into them, and I cleared my throat after he began not-so-subtly caressing my calf.

“Thanks for that,” I mumbled, “I should go now, otherwise the date wouldn’t start well.”

                                        

* * *

 

“That date didn’t end well,” I moaned as I collapsed into the sofa next to Chris.

 “What happened?” Chris asked, with a small laugh.

“Everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong,” I said sadly, kicking off my high heels, “even though I followed all of your instructions.”

“I’m sorry,” Chris said, not really making eye contact with me, “Tell me more about it.”

Counting off my fingers, I responded, “Well, I tried to be as distant as I could, ordered unhealthy food, and even drank expensive wine to impress him.” I sulked further into my couch. “Amma was right about everything.”

“Well, you just need to practice then.”

I furrowed my brows. “What do you mean?”

“Hey, I gave you those tips because they would have totally worked on _me_. Maybe something didn’t work on the date. Tell you what,” Chris suggested, “let’s go on a fake date.”

I rolled my eyes at his suggestion, but I took one look at his hopeful face and immediately caved. “Fine.”

Chris looked at me, a grin splitting his face, “Stay here.”

He jumped up and ran into the kitchen, leaving me all alone on the sofa, confused as hell. All I could hear was him shuffling around in my kitchen.

“I hope you’re not destroying my kitchen!” I yelled. “If you mess anything up, I’m making you clean it all!”

After a few minutes, Chris came back and stood in front of me. “OK, so I’ve set up for our little date,” he said, making air quotes around ‘date,’ “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s just get on with this.”

We both walked into the kitchen, and my breath caught in my throat. He had thrown a table cloth on the table along with a vase newly filled with flowers from my porch. He had even gone to the trouble of lighting some scented candles, probably for mood lighting.

I narrowed my eyes at the scene. _Why is he trying to make this more romantic?_ It’s a _fake_ date, after all.

I shook my thoughts away as Chris pulled out a chair for me, but I couldn’t help looking at him strangely as I took a seat. He grabbed a bottle of wine and two wine glasses for us.

“Hey,” I complained, “There’s literally no reason to waste good wine-”

“So what do you do-?” Chris interrupted me, getting into the scenario as he poured me a drink.

“I’m a pediatric resident at MassGen.” I responded very curtly, just like he had instructed me.

“No, Naina, tell me about yourself,” he insisted.

I was just staring blankly at him in confusion. Why he is taking this so damn seriously? Chris seemed awfully in character, as he waited for me to answer his question. _I’m an idiot_. This dude is an actor, of course he’s going to take this seriously.

Even I wouldn’t back down from that kind of challenge. I was going to bring my A-game to this… this fake date.

Leaning forward, I started to play-act too. Or as well as I could act. “Well, I like to read books, I guess…” I trailed off, unsure of what else to possible say about myself.  “I have an awfully boring life- this isn’t working-” I got up to leave, but Chris grabbed my hand.

“Wait, Naina,” he sighed, “I have a better idea. Why don’t we play a game?”

I raised my eyebrows. “A game?”

“Yeah, like Twenty Questions or something.”

_That’s not a bad idea, actually._

“I’ll start,” he said, “What’s on your bucket list?”

“Gosh, that’s really hard cause there are so many things I haven’t done,” I responded, “but I guess I want to get a tattoo?”

His eyes widened as he laughed. “Really? Wouldn’t have thought that.”

“Something small, just so my parents wouldn’t find out,” I mused, “Since Amma would know if I got a nose piercing, I promised myself that getting a tattoo would be my one act of rebellion after medical school, but I never actually did it. Anyway, what’s on yours?”

“Now I’ll definitely have to take you to get one done.” he said. “Scuba diving would be fun. If there’s one place you could go, where would it be?”

I paused, as I debated if I should actually tell Chris this. “Even though I’ve been to India multiple times, I haven’t ever seen the Taj Mahal.”

 “Are you serious?” he gasped, “I’ve only been once there and I visited it.”

“Yeah, Amma and Dad just never took me to Agra when we were in the country,” I babbled, “even after I’d begged to go, so I promised myself I’d make the journey on my own. Especially after I get married-” I stopped myself. _Shit, why did I bring that up?_

“Are you coming onto me?” Chris teased as he leaned back in his seat.

“I mean-” Suddenly the oven timer went off, which made me jump in my seat, and clutch my chest.

“I’ll be right back,” Chris said, as he got up from the table. I took that moment to pour some more wine for myself. I needed to inebriate myself more if I was going to get through this without any major mishaps.

He brought out some food for us-

“Macaroni with jalapeños?” I laughed as Chris placed the food in the middle of the table. “That was left over from last night!”

“Hey, I improvised as best as I could,” he laughed.

“Don’t put too much on my plate!” I objected as he spooned out the macaroni. “I already ate dinner technically.” He rolled his eyes, but he gave me much less than what he spooned onto his plate.

As we kept asking each other questions to answer, I polished off all of my macaroni. Apparently I was hungrier than I thought I was. And I’d forgotten how hungry I’d get just seeing Chris shovel down the macaroni. _Why am I always hungry?_

“So, the senior year of high school, I went to New York City,” Chris began saying, “for this internship at an agency- “

As he was talking, I nonchalantly reached over to pick some of his jalapeño peppers off of his plates, and he freaked the fuck out.

He blocked my fork with his own, and said in a deadpan voice, “Joey doesn’t share food.”

“What?” Now I was incredibly confused.

“You didn’t get that reference?”

“No,” I muttered awkwardly, “Should I have?”

“Well, it’s from F.R.I.E.N.D.S…”

“The show? I completely missed it when it first came out,” I said, “and I never caught up with it.”

He immediately pulled out his phone and started to type something.

I narrowed my eyes, “What are you doing?”

“Another something to add to the list of all the things I have to catch you up on,” he said, pocketing it and shoveling some more macaroni into his mouth.

“You’re literally Steve Rogers,” I said, “you’re carrying around a goddamn list like he did in ‘Winter Soldier.’”

That made him lose it. He spluttered with laughter, getting some crumbs stuck to his face in the process. 

“You’ve got a little something… there,” I informed him, pointing out the spot on my own face.

He swiped at his face, but it was still there. I now pointed to his face, but he still wasn’t getting it. Shaking my head, I reached over and brushed the crumbs off, my thumb stroking his chin.

I quickly sat back in my chair, and in an attempt to diffuse the awkwardness, then I excused myself to the bathroom. I locked myself in there and tried to basically talk my anxiety away. That obviously didn’t work, and I couldn’t even splash water on my face to calm myself down, with all that expensive makeup.

“Get a hold of yourself Naina,” I muttered as I left the bathroom and walked back into the kitchen.

There waiting was Chris sitting at the table with two bowls filled with-

“Ice cream!” I squealed as I grabbed a bowl from him. “How’d you know the mango one was mine?”

“Well, it did have ‘Naina’ scrawled over it,” he muttered, “How do you eat that crap? Thank God you had cookies-and-cream in there too.”

“Just because you have a boring taste in ice cream,” I exclaimed, shaking my head at his choice, “doesn’t mean you have to hate the interesting flavors. You’re just like Ananth!”

“Why wouldn’t you just eat a mango if you wanted something that tasted the same?” He asked. “It’s not like you can actually replicate the flavor of cookies and cream.”

I took a spoon of my ice cream and offered it out to him. “You should try it before saying that.”

He leaned down and those plump lips of his wrapped around the spoon as he tasted it. “It’s not half bad. And now that you made me taste yours, you have to taste mine.”

I tentatively took a spoon of his ice cream, and let out a loud moan. “I’d kind of forgotten how good cookies-and-cream can be,” I admitted, ignoring the triumphant look on his face, “But mango is still my favorite.”

Once we polished off our ice creams, Chris said, “Since I’m leaving early tomorrow morning, we should probably finish this date off here.”

To be honest, I’d forgotten about this whole play-acting a date thing that we had going on initially. It had become so easy-going to talk with Chris about all sorts of stories, memories, and other things; much easier than it had been with Ashwin.

“Of course,” I said, slipping back into the play-acting with a weird ease. It felt weird knowing that Chris wouldn’t be home whenever I would go to visit the Evans family, that he wouldn’t be in Boston at all.

We both walked to the door, and Chris gave me a big hug, his arms enveloping my small frame. “I’ll miss you, Naina.”

“I’ll miss you too,” I responded. And I truly meant it.

He walked out of the door, and I took a deep breath. Why was I feeling sad knowing that I wouldn’t see him for a while? We’re just friends, and Shanna and I had been separated for long periods without me feeling this way.

Suddenly I heard a knock on the door. I threw it open and found myself face to face with Chris once again.

“Forget something?” I asked.

He approached me wordlessly, backing me up against the wall. Now my confusion was turning into panic.

“Yes,” said Chris softly in answer to my question. He leaned in slowly, and I could see his face getting closer and closer to mine. My brown eyes widened as I gazed into his blue ones, which seemed to be silently questioning me whether this was alright.  I might have answered in the negative, had his cologne not been overpowering my ability to think clearly.

Everything afterwards felt like it was happening in slow motion.  His eyes dropped down to my lips and he leaned in.  I let my eyes close as his soft, plump lips brushed lightly against mine.

That’s when I began losing control of my own body. As he gave me time to respond, I tentatively started to press my lips against his more firmly, and placed my hands on his torso. I could feel his heartbeat thumping beneath my hand as a low moan vibrated in his chest.  His left hand reached down to my waist, gently caressing my bare skin exposed by my saree, while his right one held my cheek as if it were made of the most delicate glass.

A small shiver ran down my spine when I felt the tip of his tongue gently poke at my top lip. And at that point I was on complete autopilot as I parted my lips for him. His tongue, still tasting of cookie and cream, gently explored my mouth. We parted, our foreheads touching as we caught our breaths.

“Wow.” He gasped quietly, as his thumb stroked my cheek.

I could only stare into his eyes, unable to speak. 

 

* * *

 

 Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, real life got in the way!! I hope you guys enjoyed reading; it finally happened! ;) Please do leave comments and feedback because the less comments I see, the less I think people care, and you guys seriously keep me going! :D


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is one character that many of you may (or may not) recognize from another very, VERY well known universe and beloved Chris!fiction author on Tumblr and AO3 (hint: @writingcreatingstorytelling). She has most generously let me use her character in my own universe. That being said, the character is single and will not be paired with Chris in this fic- consider this an AU!version of her. ;)

“That was-”

“That was-“

“-perfect-”

“- a mistake,” I whispered, interrupting him and shaking my head. “I shouldn’t have done that.” I turned away from him, unable to look him in the eye. “I have no idea what came over me; I’m sorry for leading you on like that.”

 “What?”

 Hearing his voice break like that, I spun around to see Chris’ usually liquid-blue eyes first widen, and then harden while gazing directly at me. The disapproval and hurt that glistened in his eyes pierced my heart.

It almost shattered as he shook his head and let out a harsh laugh.  "Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for.“

Before I could say anything, he had walked out the door, leaving me with a massive internal conflict.

I shook myself out of my stupor, trudged up to my bathroom and mechanically started to get ready for bed. I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror because my smeared lipstick was a reminder of the kiss. I quickly wiped off my makeup, took out my contacts, and splashed cold water on my face- taking a shallow, shaky breath.

  _I hope you find what you’re looking for._

I placed my folded saree in the back of the dresser and placed my jewelry at the bottom of the jewelry box. I was terrified to look at them again; terrified that they may remind me of Chris and ignite incomprehensible feelings about him. That was definitely _not_ something I needed when I had to go to the hospital early the next morning.

 _I hope you find what you’re looking for._ That one phrase that Chris spat at me haunted me the entire night as these new and strange feelings wouldn’t leave me alone.

I woke up at the crack of dawn, groggy from tossing and turning all night. I grabbed my phone and sent Chris a quick text to wish him a safe flight.  He responded with just a ‘thanks.’

That was not an auspicious start to my day, let alone my week. Seeing pairs of couples kissing almost made me want to vomit, and did me no favors to forget Chris. At one moment, when I was getting suture kits from the supply closet, my lips started tingling randomly.

I touched my lips in confusion, only able to think about him. _What the hell?_

My attending physician then reprimanded me for spending too much time in the supply closet. Damn it, why “why does he keep intruding on my thoughts, even though he’s halfway across the world?”

* * *

“Hi,” I told the secretary at the front desk, “I’m here to see Shanna Evans.”  I signed in, walked through the empty hallways of the school – all the children were in the cafeteria.

I entered the teacher’s lounge, which was strangely empty, save for one other person; it was a woman, whose caramel skin glowed, making me envious – I had finished an overnight shift at the hospital and looked like shit.  She was bent over a binder filled with laminated papers.

“Excuse me,” I interrupted quietly, “do you know where I could find Shanna Evans?”

“‘Hi!” she exclaimed loudly enough to startle me, as she looked at me with welcoming brown eyes.  “She should be coming in soon; the kids were just let out for lunch. Please, sit down!” She patted the seat next to her.

I tentatively put down the bag of take-out containers. “What are you working on?” I said, trying to break the awkward silence.

“Just some lesson plans on the newest astronomy discoveries!” She pushed the binder towards me, and I started to browse through the pages.

“Do you have an interest in astronomy?”

“I took some classes in college, but we talked about more of the physics aspect-” We proceeded to geek about the astronomy concepts that I could remember from classes before medical school.

“Naina!” I looked to see Shanna walk towards me. “I didn’t know you were coming this early from work.”

“I came straight from the hospital after my shift ended,” I got up to give her a quick hug. “I was starving and wanted to eat lunch with you, since we haven’t caught up in a while.”

“By the way, this is Natalia Rodriguez,” Shanna introduced us. “She teaches science here and is one of my close friends. Natalia, this is Naina.”

“I’m a pediatric resident at MassGen.” I quickly offered my hand to her, “It’s nice to meet you-“

She completely ignored that and quickly enveloped me in a hug. “So you’re the famous Naina! I’ve heard a lot about you from Shanna here.”

“We were roommates in college,” Shanna and I shared a smile. “And now that I’m working here in Boston, I couldn’t avoid her like I could when I was in medical school.” I laughed as Shanna stuck her tongue out at me.

“Anyway, we should eat this Chinese food before it gets cold!” I turned to Natalia. “Would you like to join us? We have a ton of extra food-“

“Be honored Nat,” Shanna teased with a gasp. “Naina almost never shares her food!” That immediately reminded me of Chris’ F.R.I.E.N.D.S. reference, but I shook all thoughts of him out of my head.

We had a small but quick lunch since both Natalia and Shanna had about twenty minutes off for lunch. We quickly polished off  the noodles and orange chicken while Shanna and ‘Nat,’ as she kept telling me to call her, filled me in on gossip about the other teachers.

Shanna’s phone suddenly beeped. “By the way, Naina,” Shanna interrupted Natalia’s ramblings about the budding romance between the music and dance teachers, “Chris just texted me that he reached China.”

Of course, she’d remind me of him again. I gave her a hesitant smile before the school bell rang, and I could hear the children filing their way back into the school hallways from the teachers’ lounge.

“That’s our cue to leave,” Shanna said, helping me pack up the remaining food.  “Anyway, we should all hang out again sometime. We barely got a chance to talk about what’s going on with you.”

“I know,” I lamented, “I was thinking about having you over for a sleepover-“

She immediately squealed, and called Natalia over to coordinate the details. “We three will have so much fun together!”

“Oh,” I responded, “Yeah, sure, all three of us…”

I guess I was now hosting a sleepover for not only Shanna, but also Natalia.

* * *

“Hey.” Shanna said, holding some bags filled with delicious-smelling food. “Are you ready for this?”

“Is this something that I should have prepared for?”

“Maybe not for Shanna’s food,” Natalia responded. “But you definitely have to be prepared for what I’ve brought.” She held up bottles of beer and Patron.

_What the hell was I thinking with this?_

 We quickly ate our take-out chicken sandwiches, and talked about Shanna’s and my college escapades.

“And then,” Shanna giggled, “Naina got on top of the table and started shaking that booty of hers!”

“Stop it,” I retorted, turning a deep red. “Otherwise I’ll spill about all the body shots you used to do at those parties!”

Once we finished eating, we were at a loss for what to do next.

“Aren’t you the host of this sleepover?” Shanna teased me. “Did you not plan anything for us to do?”

“Well, I thought eating was going to take longer,” I responded. “Apparently we were all hungrier than I had anticipated.”

My eyes glanced around the room, looking for something, anything for us to do, but to no avail. Until- “Hey, look, Twister,” Natalia said, “That would be fun to play!”

I prayed that I wouldn’t pull a muscle in my knee from playing this game. I pulled out the box that hadn’t been opened since Ananth was about ten years old and squatted to set up the game.

My stupid knee cracked as I got up, and I let out a cry. “This doesn’t bode well for the rest of the game.”

“Well,” Natalia announced, looking at the set-up and then at Shanna, “If you think that we’re going to play this game sober, then you don’t know me very well. Drunk Twister would be so more fun!”

Shanna whooped in acknowledgement and quickly jumped up and ran to my kitchen to grab shot glasses. “If you thought you could hide these bad boys from me, Naina, you were wrong.”

“I learned that lesson long ago,” I responded and shook my head, “when I tried to curb your drinking senior year. That was a complete fail.”

“You don’t need to do that now,” Nat said and poured out some shots for all three of us, “cause I’m here to get you guys wasted.”

“By the way, Naina,” Shanna informed me, “This is how Nat makes friends.”

She nodded. “That’s very true. When you get a person drunk, that’s when you know their true self.” Natalia gave us our shot glasses. “To friendship!”

We played a couple rounds of the game, our hands and feet flailing about, and tried to keep some semblance of balance. Each following round took less and less time, and we threw back more shots. Finally, we all collapsed to the ground in a fit of giggles.

It didn’t take long for me to get tipsy, as it was apparently Nat’s mission to get Shanna and me drunk. _A drunk mind speaks a sober heart indeed_. Nat kept taking swigs of tequila and even some beer that she had brought for herself. As she became tipsy, her Boston accent came through strong.

“You know,” I giggled, as I lost all inhibitions and pinched Nat’s cheeks, “your accent reminds me of Chris-“

“Shanna’s brother?” Nat wrinkled her nose as she slammed down her shot glass. Tequila sloshed everywhere. “Ewww, don’t make me laugh. He’s….just no. Not my type, to be honest.”

“Oooohhhhh,” Shanna started to pay attention when I talked about Chris. “What are we saying about Chris?”

“I miss him,” I moaned. sadly, “I want him to wrap his arms around me and give me a big hug-”

“How cute!” Shanna cooed, “But you both are just friends, aren’t you?“

“If friends can kiss,” I mumbled and took a swig from the beer bottle near me, “then I suppose that we are just friends.”

The room suddenly got deathly quiet as Shanna and Natalia processed what I just said.

“Are you saying,” Shanna slowly asked, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, “that you two… kissed?”

“No…” I lied, looking anywhere but at her. This apparently wasn’t convincing, because Shanna and Natalia started to squeal really loudly.

“Spill all the details now,” Natalia said and shook my shoulders.

“We deserve to know.”

“Well, he came over and begged for my forgiveness, even getting down on his knees at one point-“

“Would’ve loved to have seen that,” Shanna laughed. “His ego needs a bit of bruising.”

“I told him that I would only do that if he helped me into my saree-“

Shanna and Natalia both screamed in excitement, and I quickly hushed them. “Do you want to hear the rest or not?” They quieted down as I continued. “Then I asked for dating tips-“

Shanna let out a laugh, but quickly quieted herself down. “Go on! I think I know exactly where this is going.”

I shook my head. “Anyway, we had a fake for practice purposes. Then, on the way out, he said he forgot to do something-“

“And then he kissed you!” Shanna squealed as I turned red. “I’m going to kill Chris, I can’t believe he didn’t tell me himself!”

“Girl,” Natalia loudly said, “Get on that dick. Pronto.”

Shanna pretended to gag, but even that couldn’t lift my sad mood.

“I can’t,” I lamented, “I… just can’t. It’s all too messy and complicated.” I buried my head in the crook of my arm and started to bawl.

I could feel Nat’s confusion in the air as Shanna quickly tried to explain my… conundrum.

I raised my head, and rested it on my folded arms to listen to their conversation.

“Basically, Naina’s parents want her to get married to a guy of their choice,” Shanna informed her, “but Chris and her-“

“Love is in the air, everywhere I look around…” Natalia sang as I burrowed my head further into my arms to hide my blush. “Now that I picture you two together, you guys would be adorable!”

“You should see them standing next to each other,” Shanna said, shaking her head. “Their height difference …”

“That should be fun for you guys,” Natalia interrupted and wagged her eyebrows. “Imagine all the different things you guys could try-“

My mind immediately went straight into the gutter.  No matter how much I tried to not think about Chris and me in _bed.  Together_. Not that I hadn’t thought of it before but-

“If you’re referring to my brother’s sex life,” Shanna cried out and covered her ears in horror, “Please stop. Like now.”

“What?” She gasped, “We can’t a little fun around here?” She turned to me and loudly whispered, “I have all sorts of tips for you, boo. If the ‘tree’ is too grown out don’t hurt yourself worrying about getting the trunk in your mouth…“

She glanced over at Shanna who was giving her a death glare which immediately shut her up.

“I don’t need sex tips,” I sighed and downed another shot of tequila. “I need… someone to tell me what the fuck I need to do. My parents always told me what I had to do and accomplish for my entire life.  Now all I know is that Meera needs me to get married!”

“Who’s Meera?” Natalia looked at Shanna in confusion.

“Her sister,” Shanna answered, furrowing her eyebrows. She started to slowly coax more information out of me. “Why does Meera need you to get married?”

“She wants to marry Sanjay,” I said sadly, “and Sanjay is in the same situation that I’m in, but she can’t get married to him before I do. So now I have to find someone soon- otherwise Sanjay may just end up marrying whoever his parents pick out for him.”

“So she can just get married to whomever she wants to,” Natalia mused, still not getting the situation. “Why can’t you do the same?”

“I… have feelings for the wrong man,” I muttered darkly. “Meera luckily managed to find love with someone whom our parents would approve.” I took a deep breath, and turned to Shanna. “Remember what happened with Meera?”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Just because she made a mistake when she ran away with John to California-“

“-means that I can’t make any of those mistakes. I just can’t disappoint them anymore,” I blubbered out and buried my face in my hands. “They’ve done so much for me. I can’t fail in their eyes.”

“You can’t live your life for your parents, Naina,” Natalia said. She came over and gave me a big hug, shushing me and stroking my hair as I started to ugly-cry. “You have to make your choices for yourself, and you’ll have to make your mistakes for yourself. This is your life, your happiness, and nobody can create that sense of self except for you.”

The next morning, Natalia and Shanna had quick breakfast with me before they left to run their weekend errands.

When Natalia left, she left me with a DVD of “What’s Your Number,” as a ‘housewarming present’ with a wink. As she walked out the door, she gave me a quick hug, and said, “You’re going to see just how strong you are one day, Naina.”

After they had left, I collapsed on the couch, unsure of what to do on my day off. The apartment was a mess, but I was in no mood to clean it.

I put in the disc into the DVD player, relaxed as I started the film. It was nice to see Chris’ face again after he had stormed out in a tiff, and it was even better to see how much male nudity was featured in it.

I stuffed some white chocolate truffles in my mouth, and thoroughly enjoyed how much of a mess Alli’s life was becoming, and the budding romance between Colin and Alli that was now culminating in their first fight.

As the film progressed, so did the anxiety of their current situation. It was all fine until I turned away from the television set for a moment to grab some more chocolates when I heard-

“-you don’t know what you want, Alli! You’re so busy trying to be what everyone else wants you to be, you don’t know who you are.”

Eyes widening, I immediately reached over to the remote and shut off the TV. I rocked myself back and forth for a minute, knees to my chest.

 _I can’t do this_. I can’t THINK straight.  I can’t shake off this feeling of dread, hopelessness, and…a strong sense of being homesick.

In an attempt to distract myself, I got up off the couch, grabbed the cleaning supplies, and mechanically started to wipe down the kitchen counters. I stopped thinking about Chris for a bit until I saw the kitchen table.

_Chris_ _sat on my kitchen table as I clean_ _ed up._ _He gave me a strange look_ _as he ate an apple. “Why do you clean so much?”_

 

_“That’s probably the only thing I can control in my life,” I responded. “If both my personal and professional life are shit, the least I can do is have a clean home. Plus, I’ve always been a neat freak.”_

 

_“A freak, huh?” he wagg_ _ed his eyebrows, looking me up and down_

 

_I threw a towel at his face with a wry smile, which he easily caught. “Ugh, shut up.” I turned around to finish cleaning the stovetop._

 

_“Finally finished,” I proclaimed, wiping my brow. “That took forever.”_

 

_“Naina?”_

 

_“Hmmm?”_

 

 _“You forgot a spot.” He jumped off the_ table _with a smirk. Fuck._

I immediately left the kitchen, turned on the vacuum cleaner, and tried to drown out my thoughts of Chris in all the noise.

* * *

“Hey Naina,” Shanna greeted me warmly, giving me quick hug as I came into their house. “Come on in.”

I shrugged off my red coat. “I hope I’m not too late,” I muttered. “Had to grab my work stuff just in case.”

“You’re on backup tonight?” Shanna pouted, taking my backpack. “I’m hoping you don’t get called in.”

“Yeah, since a lot of the physicians are at home tonight with their families,” I added, “many of the residents are picking up the slack. Especially in the pediatric ward.”

We went into the kitchen where Lisa and Carly were. “Naina!” Lisa said, turning away from the oven with the turkey. “Ananth didn’t come with you?”

“Since he had his Thanksgiving break, he decided to go back to our parents’ house,” I responded.

“So you’re the only one not there?” Shanna asked me, taking the mashed potatoes out of the microwave.

“Unfortunately.”

“Well, at least you’re here!” Carly gave me a hug. “Why don’t you go in the living room until we have dinner ready-“

“Speaking of which, I brought some food for the dinner,” I recalled, taking the container out of my bag. “Don’t say anything about it; just heat it up,” I told Shanna who had opened her mouth in protest.

Just then, the last person I wanted to see at that moment walked through the kitchen door. Not knowing what to do, I quickly turned towards the sink to begin washing the pile of dishes.

“Hey, Ma! The food smells delicious!”

“Don’t you dare touch those rolls!” I heard Lisa smack his hand away from the bread basket. “Shanna, Carly, can you help me set the table?”

Knowingly or unknowingly, they left the two of us alone in the kitchen. _Well, this is going to be awkward._

He came up to stand behind me, making me stiffen.

“Naina.” He said curtly, a stark difference compared to his usual enthusiasm.

“Hi, Chris. How’ve you been?” I turned to face him. Apparently the mere sight of Chris made me lose all control over my vocal cords. I blurted out, “You look good- not that you looked bad, I don’t think you ever looked bad. Not that I think of you and how you look and of your body-“

The usually-dreaded beeps of my work pager suddenly became the sound of my salvation.

“Shit.” Just then, Shanna, Carly and Lisa came back into the room.

“What happened?” Shanna asked, looking at me swiping through my messages.

“Apparently tonight’s going to be busier than they had expected, so I’m going to have to be there within the hour-”

“-so that means you’ll have to leave in a couple.”’ Carly surmised.

“I guess.”

“Are you sure you can’t have something before you go?” Lisa protested, Carly and Shanna nodding along. Thank goodness all three of them were standing close together, so I could look at them without making eye contact with Chris.

A sudden wave of tiredness swept over me. “I’ll have a coffee, actually, if it’s not too much trouble.”

While Carly and Lisa said their goodbyes, Shanna quickly went over to the coffeepot, letting me quickly excuse myself to get ready. Splashing some cold water on my face, I took some deep breaths to calm down. I quickly washed off my makeup, popped out my contacts and changed into my fresh scrubs.

Coming out of the bathroom, I plopped my bag down on the console table near the front door and started digging through it for my eyeglasses

“Hey, Shanna, I’m going to put my bag in the car,” I yelled down the hallway. “I’ll be back in a second.”

“That’s fine! I’ll bring the coffee to your car.”

I ran outside and tossed my bag into the backseat _. I should probably go inside and say my goodbyes-_

 

The footsteps of a certain someone brought me out of my thoughts.

“Naina,” Chris was walking toward me, “since Shanna was checking on the turkey, I offered to bring your coffee out.” He held out a reusable travel coffee mug.

I held it up towards the light emanating from a lamp post. “This is Shanna’s mug right?” I recalled, “this used to be an extension of her arm every morning in college.”

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but my pager start beeping again, pulling me back into the realm of reality and responsibilities.

* * *

A full month passed away after Thanksgiving, during which my life had consisted of daily rounds between my apartment and the hospital. With the research I was completing during my residency with a group of fellow residents and an attending pediatrician- come Christmas, I was almost dead on my feet and ready for the few days off.

“Hey, Akka,” Ananth announced while we had our last breakfast together, “apparently Amma and Dad are planning to go to India for break.”

“So?”

“They’re planning on staying until New Years-“

I almost choked on my cereal. “But I only get off for the Christmas weekend. So if I drive down to Maryland then -“

“-nobody’s going to be home.” My brother helpfully supplied.  

I dropped my spoon into the bowl, and slouched back in my seat. Guess like I’ll be alone in the cold tundra of Boston while my entire family is enjoying the tropics of the subcontinent.

A couple days before Christmas, I dropped Ananth to the airport. “I’ll miss you though,” he teased me sarcastically, adjusting the strap of his backpack, “Have fun spending your holidays alone here.”

“Have fun sweating like a pig in the heat and being stuck with our parents!” I retorted as I waved him off.

When I was walking out of the airport, my phone beeped and I swiped the screen to open a text.

**3:59 PM- Shanna**

        You still coming over for Secret Santa gift exchange next Saturday?

_Fuck._

* * *

“Hey, Naina,” Shanna ushered me into the house.

“It’s freezing outside,” I mumbled, shrugging out of my winter jacket. “Where’s everyone?”

“Well, Scott is in New York City for filming,” Shanna said, “He’s going to give his gifts when he visits for New Years. Carly and the kids went to California.”

So apparently it was only going to be Lisa, Shanna, Chris, and me. Damn it, fewer people to mingle with.  

When I walked into the living room, Lisa immediately pounced on me.

“This is just unacceptable, Naina,” she scolded, “we need to see you around here more often!”

“Why are you surprised, Ma?” A voice that I recognized quite well boomed from behind me. “She’s always been a workaholic.”

I wondered why he was speaking so fondly; I had rejected him, after all.  I went along with it.   “You’re right, this month has been so busy! With work and research, I’m barely even at my apartment.”

“Why do you think Chris has been holed up in our house, Ma?” Shanna said, playfully slapping her brother on the arm. “Otherwise he’d always be at her place.”

I mustered an awkward smile. “Shall we exchange the gifts?” I pulled out two giftbags from a totebag; for Lisa, I brought an Indian _masala_ spice box, and for Shanna I bought personalized wine glasses. For Chris-

“What is this?” He tore off the wrapping paper to find two neatly folded cardigans.  “Oh. Sweaters.”

“Those grandpa cardigans will help you get into character for 90-year-old Steve Rogers. Plus, It’s always so cold here in the winter,” I defended my gift, “and yet you wander around, never wear enough clothing-“

“It’s not _that_ cold-“

“Thank you for being the first person in the world who’s putting more clothes on him,” Shanna interrupted me, breaking up the banter that I had become accustomed to as she walked over from the Christmas tree. “We need more good people like you in this world. Anyways, time for my gifts!”

In traditional teacher fashion, she gave Lisa some cookbooks, and gifted some novels to Chris for “those long flights to far away locations.”

“-and here is your gift Naina!”

I took a gift bag out of Shanna’s hand and pulled out the red tissue paper. “Oh my gosh,” I squealed, “You didn’t!” I pulled out two pillowcases: one with Loki in his full avatar, and another with Tom’s gorgeous face.

“Now you can stare at his face whenever you get up in the morning-“

I was wondering why Chris wasn’t seething at Shanna’s gift, since he obviously didn’t appreciate my love for Loki and Tom, when my phone rang. Ananth’s face appeared on the screen. Strange, he usually wouldn’t call me unless it was an emergency.

“Shanna, can I take a call in another room?”

She took me upstairs and led me into the guestroom across from Chris’ bedroom, the same one that brought back those awkward memories of Chris walking in on me stalking him on YouTube, and of seeing him shirtless.

Leaving me alone in the room, I immediately pulled out my phone and redialed that number. “What do you want, Ananth?”

“It’s not Ananth, it’s Amma,” my mother’s voice thundered through my ears, even though she was more than halfway across the world. “Your brother’s phone is the only one that is working here for some reason.”

I immediately toned down my annoyance, afraid of whatever bomb she was about to drop on me. “Oh, hi, Amma,” I said, “how’s your trip going?”

I shouldn’t have asked that question since she immediately launched into a detailed discussion about family politics and how all the aunties were complaining about my spinsterhood.

“Aisha Aunty’s daughter already has two children at twenty-five-“ I tuned her out until I saw Chris standing at the entrance of the doorway. _Shit._

“Hey,” Chris said quietly, “can we talk?”

“Amma, I’ll have to call you back later,” I whispered into the phone, promptly hanging up on her before she could say anything else. _Time to face the music._

“Yeah, sure,” I responded, shifting to make room for Chris. He walked over to me, perched himself on the edge of the bed, and turned towards me.

He started speaking a mile-a minute, looking anywhere but at me. “Look, I know we haven’t talked in awhile, and that might be my fault, I honestly have no idea. Anyway, that’s not the point. What I do know is that I have missed you Naina. I miss you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” And it was true. I missed his smile, I missed his stupid perfect laugh, and so much more. But most of all, I missed that feeling that I get in my stomach every time I feel his eyes on me.

He spluttered on, completely ignoring what I said, “ Shanna tried to explain the context of… the complicated situation you’re stuck in. I know how much your family means to you Naina. Hell, my family is everything to me too, but I like you.”

“Don’t Chris,” I muttered, putting a hand up to stop his rambling. “Don’t pretend like you know what I’m going through. I had a plan, a goddamn plan to be a perfect, dutiful daughter and do everything that was expected of me- the life, the career, the husband- to make my parents happy and proud.” I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. “It made me happy to do something that so defined my family and myself. I had come to terms with it all.”

“That all may be true, but I like you and want to be with you.” I opened my mouth in protest, but he continued, a fire blazing in those blue eyes of his, “I know you feel it too Naina. Don’t lie to me. It’s OK if you’re not ready to tell me, but don’t lie to me and deny it, Naina. I’m tired of you denying something that’s there. ”

I was unable to tear my eyes from him as he poured out his heart to me. “Seeing you… with these other guys gets my blood boiling. I hate that we can’t even see if we can make this thing between us work.”

“I’m not saying that.“  

“What?” He furrowed his brow.

“I like you.” Now that I had ripped the Band-Aid off, I took a deep breath and continued. “Alright, I admit it… But I had a plan for twenty-seven years of my life, to follow the path laid out for me.” I cried out, a wave of emotion washing over me. “But in one swoop, you just came into my life and ruined everything, and now, I don’t know what do to or what I want.”

A moment of silence fell between us, until I continued. “I’m not saying yes, and I’m not saying no. I just need time to make a very difficult decision. I can’t deny what I feel for you- it’s strong and new and that it changes everything- but I can’t turn on my upbringing for a man I’ve barely known for six months.”

“I’m glad we put all our cards on the table.” He sharply exhaled. “And if time is what you want, I’m OK with waiting.”

Our conversation was interrupted by Lisa calling us downstairs for dinner. As we walked through the doorway to go downstairs, Chris reached out and grabbed my wrist.

“What happened?” I narrowed my eyes, unsure about his intentions, especially since this was his house. I followed his gaze up to the top of the doorway before entering the dining room. _Mistletoe._

 He pulled me closer into his embrace, and my eyes inadvertently closed as he leaned down and those luscious lips of his softly brushed against mine, his left hand coming up to caress my cheek.

“Guys,” Shanna yelled out, making us jump apart, “where the hell are you?”

After a delicious lasagna dinner, when I was about to leave, Chris stopped me. “Hold up, Naina, I didn’t give you your gift earlier-“

“-which I wrapped, by the way,” Shanna exclaimed while I grabbed my bag, “You should’ve seen his first attempt to wrap it- pretty abysmal, I must say.”

I unwrapped the gift very carefully, and folded the wrapping paper to toss away. I pulled out a Captain America t-shirt and pillowcase along with a box of white truffle chocolates.

“I love this,” I laughed, giving Chris a quick hug. “Now I can sleep with Tom Hiddleston and Cap everyday of my life.”

 He muttered quietly, so only I could hear, “You’re more than welcome to ask Cap into your bed anytime. With or without the suit.”

He then offered to walk me out to my car, and when I got in and buckled up, ready to go home and forget all about the conversation between Chris and I, I heard a tapping on the window.

I rolled it down, and Chris leaned down into my car.

“Nice car lean,” I observed bemusedly, “if acting doesn’t work out, your classic hooker pose isn’t half-bad. I’m not saying anything, I’m just saying.”

“This is only for you, Naina,” he remarked, winking at me.

He then straightened up and walked back into the house, giving me a great view of his ass.

I sat petrified, clutching the wheel, my knuckles turning white. _Well then._

 

* * *

“Naina, you look like death.”

“Thanks, Dr, Hill,” I sarcastically muttered, checking the vitals of a sleeping patient. “That’s exactly what I want to be told at approximately 1:20 in the morning.”

“Why don’t you go take a breather for some hours?” Ned patted me on the back. “It’s New Years, and you’ve been on your feet since our shift started hours ago. ”

I opened my mouth in protest, “But-“

“-there isn’t much going on right now, go rest for a bit. I’ll make sure to page you if something comes up.”

Stifling a yawn, I thanked him and walked out of the room towards the on-call room set up for the residents. I grabbed a chocolate muffin and poured myself a cup of coffee from the thermos and added a lot of cream and sugar, hoping to create both a caffeine and sugar rush to keep me going.

“Finally,” I moaned as I sunk into the couch and sipped on my coffee. I pulled out my phone and started to check my notifications. Apparently most people were out having fun on New Years, looking at all the photos on Facebook and the snaps Ananth was bombarding me with.

There was a notification from Chris. I opened the text to see a video with the caption: Happy New Year.

I clicked play, and Chris popped up on screen with his baseball cap on backwards, the quintessential frat bro.

“Hi Naina,” Chris looked awkwardly into the camera as I heard Shanna laughing in the background. “This is Chris- well you obviously know that, I mean, I’m recording this and sending it to you-“

I couldn’t help but laugh at Chris’ rambling- his face was getting redder, I wasn’t sure whether it was because of his embarrassment or because of the alcohol.  

“-I just wanted to say that I was missing you and a Happy New Year-“

“Is that for Naina?” Scott slurred from off-screen, “Hey, girl, he’s been moping around since you’re not here, he probably wants to give you that New Year’s kiss-“

“Dude, shut up,” he shushed Scott when he started making kissing noises, handing him another beer bottle-

Suddenly my pager beeped. I groaned as I shut off my phone, and quickly polished off the muffin and downed the last of my coffee. _Back to work again._

* * *

A couple days later, I visited the Evans house again. “Hey Shanna,” I said, not looking at who opened the door as I dug through my backpack, “just wanted to drop off some Tupperware.“

I looked up from the bag, and saw Chris standing in the doorway. “Hi, Chris, I’m so sorry! Is Shanna at home?”

 _Speak of the devil_. “Hey, Naina, wish I could talk but something came up at the school so I have to run.” Shanna walked up to the front door, and gave me a hug. “Do you think you could drop Chris off to the airport since he’s going to LA today? I’d do it myself, but I’m running kind of late…”

“Don’t worry,” I reassured her, “I can do it.”

She jogged out to her car, and quickly drove away. I walked inside the house where Chris was gathering up the last of his stuff.

“Are you ready to leave?” I asked, glancing at the clock. “What time’s your flight?”

“Around noon,” he grabbed his backpack, and shrugged it onto his shoulders. “I mean, I can just Uber there-“

“Why would you Uber there when I can drop you? It’s not that far of a drive,” I retorted. “Plus it’s just a waste of money.”

“Still haven’t lost that frugality, I see,” Chris snickered as I shrugged.

We lugged his bags into my car, and got into the car.

“So, you’re going off to L.A?”

“There’s some stuff I have to be in town for,” he responded, “but I’ll be back in two or three weeks.”

An awkward silence fell in the car.  

“Thanks for the video, by the way,” I said as we got closer to the airport. “The party looked like a lot of fun.”

Chris filled me in on the details about the New Year’s party I had missed-

“-and Scott drank more than he should have,” Chris informed me while we pulled next to the terminal. He quickly reached into his backpack and pulled out his trademark Natural Addiction baseball cap and a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses.

I furrowed my brows in confusion, and he said “Just in case someone recognizes me.”

We both got out of the car, and after he got his bag out of the trunk, he gave me a hug. “I don’t think I ever wished you Happy New Year properly.”

“It’s fine,” I laughed, “don’t worry about it.”

“And I didn’t get my New Year’s kiss,” he murmured, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. He dropped a quick peck on my lips, and stroked my cheek with his thumb. “See you when I get back.”

It had been a while since I had stood so close to him- as much as I wanted to deny it, I had missed him… _and this._ I leaned into his touch. He began walking away, leaving me speechless at my car. He wasn’t about to get away with that.

“Chris!” I called out to him, running up to him. He turned around, and I reached up to put my hands around his neck, and pulled him into a kiss. Even with those sunglasses on, I could see his eyes widen.

As he moaned into my mouth, I pulled away and whispered into his ear, “That was my New Year’s kiss,” brushing my lips over his earlobe. While I was walking away with a swing of my hips, I could feel those blue eyes of his burning into my back.

 _And now my job was done_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naina and Chris have alot going on, dont they? ;) There's a ton of drama, romance, and smut in the upcoming chapters! 
> 
> And all those gifts actually do exist on Amazon- you can totally go buy your own! 
> 
> I'm sorry for the long wait; real life really got in the way this time! Hopefully this longer chapter makes up for it. I'm hoping to have more frequent updates now, and the one thing that fuels me the most is your comments and feedback! I hope you all liked this chapter; please let me know what you guys thought!


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey peeps! Finally, finally finished writing and editing the next chapter of the story, so sorry to keep you guys waiting for like 2 months! In my defense, it's about 7K words so :) I tried to do a small recap in the story but basically, from Ch. 14, Chris/Naina reach an understanding about their relationship before he leaves for LA. 
> 
> Once again, thanks to @writingcreatingstorytelling for letting me borrow Nat again for this chapter (reminder- she and Chris are not paired together for this story- she’s single as a pringle). There’s also some slight smutty stuff near the end of the chapter, so please be kind!

“Come on, Naina,” Shanna cried, her voice echoing through the speaker on my phone. “Nat and I are not taking no for an answer!”

I groaned, cocooning myself deeper into the throw blankets scattered on the couch. It had been some weeks since I had impulsively kissed him at the airport. My work and personal life weren’t getting any better. “But I don’t want to!”

Suddenly the doorbell rang, making me curse aloud. Slamming down my coffee mug on the table, I trudged over to the front door – only to see my two friends standing at the doorstep, laden with drinks and snacks.

“We’re here to get you to have some fun for once in your life.”  Natalia said, shrugging off her jacket.

“I have fun sometimes,” I muttered, taking their coats from them.

“ _Bullshit_ ,” Shanna sang, going into the living room,“In college, your idea of fun includes doing laundry on a Friday night. Therefore, your opinion doesn’t count.”

“Don’t forget cleaning,” Natalia yelled out from the kitchen. “I swear, she’s freaking Cinderella reincarnated, constantly running around with a mop and a broom.”

“Hey, don’t insult me if you want to eat any mango mousse.” I retorted, shaking my head. “I made a fresh batch last night.”

“We better shut up.” Shanna laughed, looking over to Natalia. “That delicious goodness got me through all those college break ups. We’d just sit in front of the TV and watch John Tucker Must Die on repeat.”

“And after watching that movie more than twenty times,” I muttered, “I never want to see Jesse Metcalfe’s ugly face ever again. That movie is seriously a crime against cinema.”

Shanna just stuck her tongue out at me.

“Anyways, why are you two bothering me on my night off?” I asked, tossing the blankets and pillows to the side. “It is a sacred time for me where I worship at the altar of my couch with absolutely no interruptions from the outside world.”

“We decided to come annoy you since we haven’t actually seen you in God knows how long,” Natalia responded. “Plus we haven’t had a girl’s night in quite a long time.”

“But I took off my bra already,” I confessed, slouching on the sofa. “I’m not changing out of these very comfortable pajamas to go clubbing or bar-hopping or whatever the young people do nowadays.”

“Naina,” Natalia sighed, “you do realize you are the youngest one here right?”

“Only by a couple months!”

“That’s ironic,” Shanna chuckled, “since you’re such an old lady at heart, it’s fucking hilarious. Fine, we’ll stay here and hang out.”

I groaned in response, and immediately went to my go-to excuse to get out of any social event. I weakly coughed, “Actually, I’m kind of feeling unwell…”

“You’ve been using excuse that since college. You’re not going to get away with it now.”

“We already called for pizza,” Natalia triumphantly exclaimed, “so now you can’t kick us out.”

“As long as you ordered extra cheese,” I said, rolling my eyes, knowing I wouldn’t win this battle.

As soon as I had finished speaking, Shanna and Natalia started squealing, which made me immediately cover my ears and regret giving up the good fight. I really need to grow a backbone.

We settled down in my living room and I asked, “Didn’t we just have a girl’s night out before New Year’s?”

“And now that it is actually the New Year, we must have another,” Shanna replied, taking out three wine glasses while Natalia pulled out the wine.

“Is this really necessary?” I asked, eyeing the Pinot Noir bottle and the price tag attached.

Shanna rolled her eyes. “There she goes again.”

“It’s not _that_ expensive,” Natalia scolded, “I got it as a gift for the holidays.”

“You can never stop that frugality from acting up, I suppose,” Shanna chuckled as she poured out the wine.

“Aren’t those the glasses I gave you for Christmas?”

Shanna smirked and lifted her goblet in mock acknowledgement. “It is.”

“I knew that gift would come back to bite me in the ass,” I muttered darkly, snatching the glass out of her hand.

“I’m bored,” Natalia whined. She turned on the TV and started flipping through the channels while Shanna and I went to the kitchen to grab some of the mango mousse out of the freezer. Spooning the dessert into bowls, I began to ask about how the new school year was going when Natalia suddenly let out a screech.

“Oh my gosh Shanna,” she cried, “there’s some award show going on right now! Come quick!”

Shanna immediately ran into the living room, leaving me gawping in the kitchen, and now both of my friends had their eyes glued to the television.

“Look at Kat Dennings in her white dress-“

“-and Shailene Woodley looks fantastic in the romper-“

I rolled my eyes at how entranced my friends were at the superficiality on-screen. “Literally it’s a bunch of overpaid celebrities, who actually contribute nothing substantial to society, parading around and congratulating each other for how awesome they are.”

“But these are the People’s Choice Awards,” Shanna laughed. “This is a democratic process, where the good people get to elect the winners.”

“My point still stands,” I sulked quietly to myself, feeling betrayed by my friends. The doorbell then rang, signaling the arrival of our pizza.

“One pizza for… Na-na?”

_Oh dear god_. I resisted the urge to face-palm as he butchered my name.  “Naina.”

He quickly nodded. Taking the pizza from him, I pulled out my clutch to pay him when I noticed that I hadn’t grabbed a shawl in my haste to answer the door.

_Which meant delivery boy was getting quite an eyeful of the nips._

I quickly shooed him off my doorstep, eager to get away from his roving eyes. Taking the pizza into the kitchen, I reached into the cabinet to take out the paper plates when –

“Naina!”

“Come quick!”

I rolled my eyes at my friends’ antics. They probably want to show me Ariana Grande or something in some stupid trendy gown.

“I’m coming!” I yelled out, walking over to the living room. “What happened now?”

“Look who’s here!” Shanna squealed loudly, pointing at the screen. My heart started beating erratically. I knew exactly about whom she was talking, and I was not ready to see any form of him – either on television or in real life.

“-and the People’s Choice for Favorite Action Movie Actor is Chris Evans!”

My eyes were glued to the screen, following his glorious figure while he walked up to the stage. But something looked strangely familiar, and I couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

And then it hit me. Apparently it hadn’t escaped Shanna’s notice either.

“He’s wearing the dark blue sweater you got him for Christmas!”

“How romantic,” gushed Natalia as I started to turn cherry red, and swatted both of them with a pillow. “He probably misses you like crazy.”

_He’s rocking the sweater aesthetic, I see._ I settled down with a satisfied smirk, thinking about how he’d decided to wear my gift to a nationally televised event, when he kissed the two presenters on the cheek before accepting his award.

“You like you’re about to murder Kat Dennings,” Shanna laughed as I seethed quietly in my seat. She then grabbed the remote and turned the volume up so we caught the last portion of his speech.

“-forty percent of the votes were my mom, but the other sixty percent truly means a lot to me.”

I started zoning out a bit since the vapid display was such a turn off, but a little while later, Betty White received some achievement award. And obviously Chris was the perfect gentleman and helped accompany her up to the stage to receive the award.

_The Internet was gonna have a field day with this one- precious old man Steve Rogers was actually holding hands with America’s favorite grandmother._

As the award show proceeded, we started to get slightly tipsy off of the wine.

“You know,” Natalia said, with a slight slur in her speech, “that speech was cute. Your brother is cute.” She turned to Shanna. “Will you introduce me to him?”

My laughter at Natalia’s unfiltered speech suddenly died down. Shanna, shooting me a worried glance, lightly chuckled. “What do you mean Nat?”

“Well, if Naina here,” she proclaimed, gesturing to me, “won’t stop this ‘will-they-won’t-they’ game, then I’m gonna go for it. He’s actually pretty sexy with that lumberjack look,” she gushed dreamily, “and my gosh, in that sweater he just looks killer. And I love me some mama’s boys. Great marriage material.”

My eyes widened as the jealousy washed over me like a tsunami, unexpected yet intense.

“Like we’d have a small house in Sudbury with our four kids. It would be just perfect. What do you both think of the name Abby?”

At that point, I was quietly boiling in my seat. I gruffly muttered, looking anywhere but at her smug face, “Yeah, Nat, you should go for it, I suppose. It’s not like I would mind at all-“

“Naina,” she interrupted me with a burst of laughter, “I never realized how bad you are at lying until now.”

“Wait, what?”

“Do you really think I’d do that to you?” She almost fell over with her giggling, clutching her chest as if she was falling apart by the seams. “You should have seen the look on your face, my gosh-“

Shanna weakly chuckled at Shanna’s antics, and I frowned at both of my friends.

“Where are you going?” Shanna asked as I quickly got up and walked back into the kitchen.

“To eat an entire pizza and mango mousse all by myself!”

* * *

A knock on my door startled me out of my afternoon nap. “Akka?” Ananth whispered, opening the door.

“What?” I groaned as I turned to sleep on my stomach and burrowed my head under a pillow for good measure.

“You’re grumpy as shit until you get some sleep,” he responded in a hushed tone. “Amma sent you a couple emails, your laptop won’t shut up,” he responded in a hushed tone.

I muttered an incoherent response and promptly fell into a light slumber until I heard some light footsteps approach the bed.

“Naina?” a feminine voice that sounded super familiar echoed in my ears. “Honey, should I come later?”

“Shanna?” I mumbled, confusion seeping into my groggy voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Remember you invited me over today to finish looking at the photos -“

“Shit, that was today?” I jumped out of bed. “I’m so sorry, it totally slipped my mind.”

“Were you on call last night?” She laughed as I yawned and ruffled my hair. “I’m waiting outside for you.”

Pulling my messy curls into a ponytail, I pulled on a pair of leggings under my large T-shirt. I splashed some water on my face and quickly brushed my teeth. As I leaned over the sink, I got a quick glance of my face in the mirror.

_God, I looked like shit._ Oh well. It was only Shanna, right?

“Shanna,” I mumbled sleepily, trudging down the hallway and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “Where are you?”

“Right here,” I heard her voice call out from the kitchen. “My gosh, Naina, do you still have more to look at?”

“Yep,” I sighed. “Amma has added more to her list, in her infinite wisdom. Gosh, I’m so tired of scrolling through all these goddamn profiles. “

The doorbell rang, which was weird since I wasn’t expecting anyone. I ran to the front door to open it.

“Chris?”

“Naina!” He reached down, enveloping me in those muscular arms and whispered in my ear, “it’s good to be back home.”

“Hey,” I awkwardly patted him on the back, wondering who else he had wrapped in those arms when he was across the country.

After that, we walked into the kitchen together and I put a kettle on the stove to make some tea for everyone. “How’d you enjoy hanging out in L.A, the city of beautiful people?” Especially beautiful, leggy models.

Chris let out a laugh. “Is that a compliment?”

“Take it as you will.”

Ananth peeked his head out of his room at the commotion, since he had to be involved in everything. “Hey guys, what’s up?” He plopped himself down next to Chris, and put his feet on the table.

“No feet on the table,” I said, shooting a death glare at my brother. “I just-“

“-cleaned the entire apartment,” Shanna muttered, finishing my sentence for me. “Anyway, let’s see some more photos!”

“My laptop is lying on the table,” I responded, pouring the tea into the mugs. “Take a look and tell me what you think.”

“Photos?” Chris turned to look at me with a cocky grin on his face. “Are you looking at photos of me?”

I snorted. “Don’t inflate your ego, I have better things to do with my time.”

“No, these are photos of more boys Naina can meet,” Ananth groaned, pulling on Chris’s arm like a toddler child. “They’re like marriage resumes. Amma signed her up for a marriage site online. Just boring stuff. I want to ask you all about the new Avengers movie since the trailer just came out.”

“Wait a minute,” Chris said, holding a hand up, “Haven’t you met enough men? And now you have to meet more?”

He looked at me and, after our long conversation that ended with him agreeing to wait for me until I could figure out how to break the news to my parents, I could just feel his indignation at my supposed betrayal.

“She didn’t meet that many men,” Shanna chimed in to my defense, pushing the laptop away from her to focus on drinking her chai. “Just Sumit and Ravi, from what I remember.”

Chris quickly grabbed the laptop and lifted the lid. “Let’s see who we have here,” he said, skimming through my mother’s shortlist. “Dev Pai…Thirty-five Years Old…Hindu… Vegetarian… they include people’s diets on here too?… Engineering undergraduate- and makes 80K per year.”

I leaned over his shoulder to glance at the photo. “He’s cute-“

“Really?” he responded. “He’s much too old for you-“

“You’re turning thirty-four this year!“

Chris continued on with his insane and quite stupid list of problems he had with my potential future husbands. “Also he’s a vegetarian, and you eat seafood and chicken. How would that work?”

“Says the person who was a vegetarian for a while.” Shanna took a quick sip of her tea.

Chris shot a glare at his sister. “Well, I had to give it up because I had this weird greenish hue and was getting too thin.”  

“Jesus, what kind of vegetables were you eating?” I replied, wracking my brain for anything from my old medical textbooks about that symptom being associated with a vegetarian diet.  “My own mother has been a vegetarian for her whole life, and I have never seen so much as a green tint to her skin.”

“Plus red meat tastes too good.”

I pretended to gag. “I have no idea how you manage to eat that stuff. It tastes… too bloody.”

“Chris!” Ananth yelled from the living room.

“Why don’t you go hang out with him?” I informed him in a saccharine voice, reaching behind me to grab the sugar packets. “Let me and Shanna handle this.”

I laughed when I saw Chris pouting, but we still kicked out the boys and got back to scrolling through the list, clicking on various profiles and seeing their bio-data information.

Shanna went to go put our cups in the sink, and just as I was about to log out, I noticed a new notification in my inbox about a new connect request. _Strange._

I took a quick glance through the profile, which mysteriously didn’t have a photo, and the information attached until a lightbulb went off in my head.

“Shanna,” I said, a smile creeping onto my face, “you have _got_ to come see this.”

We sat next to each other, sharing an inside joke about the profile in front of us when Chris came into the kitchen, holding two empty mugs. “Just wanted to bring these back.”

“This profile looks interesting.” I turned towards Shanna. “It’s of Siddartha Shenoy. He works in Los Angeles in the entertainment business.

“So he’s the creative type.” Shanna whistled when she looked at the profile. “And he makes the big bucks. You’ve gotta jump on it girl.”

Chris let out a strangled cough, scrubbing the mugs in the sink.

“And gosh,” I gushed, “he tap dances and is a musician? He apparently plays the piano, guitar and can fake it on the drums.”

“Plus he loves nature! You two would be perfect for each other,” Shanna responded with a sigh. “Strange he didn’t include a photo.”

“I’ll have to send him a message about that later.”

Shanna’s phone beeped with a notification. “Naina, honey, I gotta return this call, I’ll be right back.”

After she left the kitchen, I walked over to where Chris was standing. “Taking a while to finish two mugs, are we?”

“Yep,” Chris responded, “Just need to make sure to scrub them extra good.”

I pulled the freshly baked jalapeño macaroni and cheese out of the oven, and reached up on my tip-toes to grab a couple plates.

“I’m gonna go get dinner on the table while you do that.” I smirked and whispered, “Once you’re finished that, you may want to get online and add a photo, by the way. Helps get more eyes on your profile.”

* * *

Sitting at the bar, I nursed a glass of wine and a crudité, eagerly counting the minutes until I’d be back home in my pajamas.   

“It’s almost over, Naina,” I muttered to myself, taking a deep breath. I just had to keep telling myself to make it through the night even though the event had only started about half an hour ago.

“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns…”

I stiffened, turning to see Chris standing beside me.

“Of all the clichés in all the world,” I responded, downing my glass of wine. “Nice sweater, by the way.”

“It was a Christmas gift from a very close friend,” Chris chuckled, as he eyed my red lace dress and stockings. “Who I think has been watching my movies.”

“I watched _What’s Your Number_ for Anna Faris’ humor,” I retorted, “not for you.” Although I did enjoy looking at his semi-naked body, but who was going to inflate his ego by telling him that?

“She has quite a sense of humor,” he admitted, “but the question is, what are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same to you.”

“Well, as an ambassador for Christopher’s Haven,” he responded cheekily, “I’d assume that I’d be invited to their fundraising event.”

“Touché.” I clicked my tongue, and asked the bartender for another glass of red wine. “As a pediatric resident who volunteers frequently for their organization, I’d assume I’d be invited as well.”

“I didn’t know that you worked there.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Chris.”

Suddenly, I felt a large hand on my lower back, dangerously close to my ass, that made my stomach drop. _Shit_

“There you are, Naina,” Rahul said as he caressed my arm. “I’ve been looking all over the place for you.”

“Yeah,” I stammered, feeling weirdly uncomfortable in this man’s presence. “I I just needed to go use the restroom-”

“Ma’am.” the bartender interrupted our rousing conversation. “Your drink.”

“There won’t be any need of that,” Raj drawled, grabbing my glass of wine.

I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath, not wanting to create a scene. “Anyways, Chris, this is-“

He stuck his hand out. “Raj Mallya,” he proclaimed, jutting his chin. “I’m a pediatric neurosurgeon at MassGen so I’ve worked with a lot of the kids here.”

I swear to God I saw his chest puff up a bit when he was stroking his ego. _Facepalm._

“Chris Evans.” He said curtly, stiffening his back, glancing at the hand Raj had wrapped around my waist. “Are you two here together?”

Raj tugged me closer to him, completely ignoring my attempts to answer my friend’s questions. “We met on this dating website that Naina recently signed up on-“

As Raj babbled on and on, completely in love with the sound of his own stupid voice, I looked at Chris, silently asking him to both forgive me and save me from this misery. I couldn’t quite tell if he got the message or not.

“Oh, by the way, Naina,” he said, turning towards me and completely ignoring Chris. “The reason I came over was to tell you our table is ready.”

“Great,” I half-heartedly said, wishing that this evening could be over as Raj nearly dragged me away from Chris.

We were seated at a table, and the waitress handed each of us a menu.

“What can I get you guys to drink?”

Just as I opened my mouth, Raj proclaimed, “One glass of red wine for me, and a Coke for the lady.”

I felt a wave of anger wash over me that I quickly bottled up after she walked away. I irately asked, “Why the hell did you order a Coke for me?”

“Naina,” he chided, “you looked a little out of it already. I wasn’t sure whether you could hold your alcohol since your profile said you don’t drink that much.”

_Thanks, Amma, for taking away my one solace on these shitty dates when you made that stupid profile._ “I can hold my alcohol just fine. Next time,” I spat out, “I’d appreciate if you could let me speak for myself.”

The waitress arrived back at the table with our drinks. “Are you both ready to order?”

“I’ve got this,” Raj informed me haughtily. He immediately turned to her, “Two vegetarian lasagnas for the both of us and one tomato soup.”

“I can’t believe this,” I said with a harsh laugh. “You _literally_ just did it again.”

“I’ve eaten here before, and their lasagna is the best,” Raj defended himself, sipping on his wine.

My eyes widened. “But I wanted to order the shrimp risotto.”

“Naina, you do realize after we get married,” he sighed as he leaned in, “that you’d would have to give up seafood. Our family doesn’t believe in eating any non-vegetarian food.”

It took a shit ton of willpower to resist the urge to throw “my” Coke in his face. _You’re doing this for Amma and Dad, Naina. They want this for you._

So I asked him the one thing that I knew would shut him up.

“So tell me more about yourself.”

“Well, I was accepted to Brown University in the combined medical program-” He launched into his professional autobiography, as if he was at a job interview. The interview to be my husband.

I completely zoned out, focusing on the snazzy wallpaper and the slightly off-kilter painting in the background as he droned on endlessly.

The smell of some delicious seafood suddenly wafted over to our table, jolting me out of my stupor.

“-I applied for a highly competitive neurosurgery fellowship at Harvard-“

Fucking shit, he was still talking? I had to seriously restrain myself from rolling my eyes.

“-and I recently took a position here, I suppose. How about you?”

Our waitress came by to inform us that our lasagnas would arrive shortly.

“Excuse me,” I asked sweetly. “Could I see the wine menu for a moment?”

I turned to Raj, who was watching my actions with his mouth agape.

“Sorry, I wanted to try it with the shrimp risotto because seafood and white wine pair well together. Even though I’m not ordering the risotto, I still wanted to taste the wine.”

He sulked as he observed my slightly smug face.

“So where were we?” I leaned forward to grab a dinner roll from the bread basket. “Well, I went to medical school at Johns Hopkins and am obviously in the pediatric residency program here at MassGen.”

“That’s nice,” Raj responded, not so subtly trying to look down my exposed neckline. “You’re a first year right? So you’ll start practicing soon.”

“Yeah.” I tepidly said, unsure of how this conversation suddenly took a turn for the better. Not that I was complaining. “I’m hoping to do a fellowship afterwards, maybe in adolescent medicine or endocrinology. Haven’t completely made up my mind yet.”

“That won’t be possible.”

I furrowed my brows. “Ex-excuse me?”

“Well, in another three years when you finish your residency,” he surmised, “we’d already have at least one child. Maybe two. How could you manage to do a fellowship and raise our children?”

I was completely flabbergasted by his suggestion.  “Children?”

“Of course. We’d probably have them in the next two years or so.” he asserted, slouching back in his chair.

“I’m only twenty-seven though.” I protested, crossing my arms and probably giving him an even bigger eyeful of my cleavage. “I wasn’t thinking about kids for another four or five years maybe.”

“Naina,” he protested, “as a doctor, you know about older women having more at-risk pregnancies. Plus, you can work until we have our first child, and once they’re all in college you could start practicing again.”

“Wait a minute.” I narrowed my eyes. “I thought we were talking about my fellowship. So let alone doing any further training, now I won’t be allowed to work at all after having our kids either?”

“Well, I mean, I’ll be making enough money to support you and the children so both of us don’t need to work or a fellowship.”

I pressed my lips together, trying to hold in my anger. “So why don’t you stay at home while I work?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Naina,” he chided. “I’m a pediatric neurosurgeon, why would I leave my job after having kids?”

“So what the fuck makes you think I’m going to give up my career and my hard work because of motherhood? I can understand if the fellowship would be too time consuming with children, but I can’t work either?”

“I didn’t mean that-“

“No,” I protested, “that’s exactly what you meant. If my own mother can work as an internist with three children, then I’m sure I could do it just fine. I worked my ass off through eight years of schooling in undergrad and in medical school, and you want me to give it all up? I’ve balanced my work and personal life just fine up until now, and I can continue to do so.”

“You’re misunderstanding me, Naina,” he began to explain, “you’re going to be playing the caregiver role as the mother.”  

“So I have the sole responsibility of taking care of _our_ children and making sure they’re raised right?” I barked, unable to believe the words he was vomiting. “That’s rich. If I thought of procreating with a sexist thing like you, my parents who’ve supported my efforts to get to where I am would question their upbringing. As I am questioning yours right now.”

Just then the waiter arrived with the lasagna and my white wine.

“Great!” I sarcastically exclaimed, throwing some twenties on the table. “food’s here.”

“I’ve tipped the waiter and paid my bill. Now I have something for you.” I got up, clutching up wine glass in one hand and my clutch in the other. Never, _ever,_ try to speak for me or any self-respecting woman again, or you won’t have you so-called balls attached to your body.”

Just as I walked past him sitting dumbstruck in his seat, I stopped and poured my wine into his lap.

“Oops!” I gave him a tight, acerbic smile as he started cursing me out in a very ungentlemanly-like fashion. “You’re right, Raj. I can’t handle my alcohol.”

I quickly walked away from the restaurant and to the bar where my only two friends for the night were located- Chris and alcohol.

“What are you doing here being so anti-social?” I muttered to Chris who was sitting with some alcoholic beverage. I turned to the bartender as I sat down. “Can I have what he’s having?”

“I hate parties. Meeting the kids is fine, doing fundraising for the kids is fine, but meeting the adults is tiring after a certain point. The bar is the best part about it.” He said, downing the last bit of his drink. “Where’s your date? I forgot the name of the pretentious prick.”

I laughed at his nickname for my date. “You mean Raj? He’s probably in the bathroom now, wiping a very large wine stain off his pants.”

“What?”

I quickly narrated what happened to Chris who was the only person who had ever been that responsive to my uninteresting storytelling.

“That sexist asshole,” he muttered with a dark grin on his face. “He got what he deserved.”

Just then an organizer came over and asked Chris if he was ready to meet some more bigwigs, to do some interviews, and make his speech.

“Naina, just wait here, OK? After this is over, I’m going to take you home.”

I nodded and he slipped the bartender a couple bills with a few instructions that I couldn’t make out.

“John,” I asked, looking at the bartender’s nameplate. “Can you just keep the liquor coming? I’m going to drown my sorrow in alcohol.”

He chuckled. “That man just gave me sixty dollars to make sure you don’t drink too much.”

I pulled out my clutch. “Will Ben Franklin change your mind?”

I’m not quite sure how much time passed when I felt Chris shaking me awake. “Naina?”

“Hmmmm?” I groggily muttered, holding my head to gather my bearings. “Where’s John?”

“Who’s John?”

“The bartender,” I replied, looking around the room to see people still going strong with their socializing. “I told him that he should watch the movie _Devdas_ to know what I feel like at the moment.” I jumped of the high chair, almost ungracefully tumbling into Chris’ arms.

“OK, so John did give you a lot of alcohol.” Chris said, after making sure that I was fine. “I should take you home now.”

“He didn’t- he only gave me some vodka. But we’ve gotta wait for him,” I protested, “I need to tell him the movie isn’t on Netflix-“

“I’m sure he’ll figure it out.”

We walked to the front, and Chris grabbed both of our heavy coats.

“We should wait here for a bit.”

“What are you doing?” I almost screamed, looking around the room. “Raj is right there!”

We were just within earshot of Raj trying to cozy up to Sarah, another resident in the peds program, when I saw John walk up to him.

“Sir, your drink.”

“But I didn’t order this.”

“Oh I know, sir,” John cheerfully responded. “One of our frequent visitors who knows the place well ordered it for you. It’s one of our specialties- the Flaming Asshole.”

I snorted loudly when I saw Raj’s speechless reaction. _Gotta applaud John for not breaking out into laughter._

“Now _this_ is when we have to go,” Chris said, grabbing my arm.

“Joyce, we had a lovely evening,” Chris thanked her, giving her a big hug.

“Of course, Chris, thank you for all that you do for Christopher’s Haven,” she gushed. “Give Lisa my love.”

She turned to me. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Dr. Naina Prabhu,” I introduced myself, shaking her hand. “I’m a resident in the pediatrics program at MassGen, but I do some volunteer work with you guys.”

“Oh, so you’re Naina? Susan had mentioned you were coming,” she responded, “thank you for all the great work you do with the children.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

‘So you two came together? Are you a couple?”

“No, we actually met here,” I corrected her quickly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. “We just happened to be leaving at the same time.”

“We’re friends,” Chris said, putting his arm around my shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze.

“I’m so sorry,” she babbled with a laugh. “You guys looked as if you were dating.”

“No worries,” I gave her a tight smile. “Thanks again for having us.”

We walked out into the chilly Boston air together, where it was already flurrying, huddled together to protect us again those chilly gusts of winter wind.

“Wait here, Naina,” he informed me. “I’ll go pick up the car.”

“No, wait!” I stubbornly insisted, tottering over to him. “Goddamn these heels-“

No sooner had I said that, I felt the ground beneath me shift as I lost my footing. I heard my right heel snap, and I closed my eyes, preparing to inelegantly fall back on my ass when I felt Chris’s arms wrap around me securely.

“I have no idea what just happened,” I stammered, trying to not hyperventilate. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s OK, sweetheart,” he soothed me. “Must have been some black ice. Can you make it to the curb?”

So I sat down on the curb, holding my broken heel in one hand, until Chris pulled up in his car.

“Shame, I was expecting a Ferrari. Such a boring car,” I mused while Chris helped me into his car. “Has Marvel not been paying you well for all those summer blockbusters?”

Chris let out a loud laugh. “You won’t think that if you see my LA house. You should come sometime.”

“I should,” I agreed, slouching in my seat and putting my feet up on the dashboard. “Haven’t been to L.A. in a decade or so.”

He began to tell me all about the sights that he would show me around the city.

“-and the Dolby Theater is so gigantic from the inside!”

We pulled into the desolate parking lot of my apartment complex, and he parked the car in my designated spot.

“Well, here we are,” he said. “You obviously can’t walk to the front door.”

“Well, I could,” I defended myself even in my slightly helpless state. “I just would have to hop-“

“If you think I’m going to let you ‘hop’ to your apartment in the middle of the harshest Boston winter we’ve had in quite some time,” he said, “you’re out of your mind.”

I huffed in annoyance. “Then how do you suppose I reach my bed? Cause all I want to do right now is collapse on some sort of furniture.”

He leaned down and gently put his arms under my knees. “Put your arms around my neck,” he whispered into my ear.

“No,” I stubbornly muttered. “I don’t like being picked up. My feet should always be planted firmly on the ground.”

After he shot me a stern look, I relented and wrapped my arms around his neck. He let out a small grunt as he lifted me up.

“Oh no,” I moaned quietly, burrowing my head into his chest. We managed to avoid the slight ice on the group as he gingerly carried me back to my apartment.

“Are we there yet?” I muttered quietly into his sweater.

“Let me unlock the door at least,” he rumbled as he brought me to sit on his knee, swooping down to grab my spare key out of my secret hiding place.

“I changed the spot, how’d you manage to find it?”

He shot me an apologetic look as he carried me across the threshold. “Cause I know you too well.”

“That’s great,” I responded, sarcasm tinting my every word. “now put me down!”

“Alright, alright,” Chris relented and dropped me delicately on the sofa, and I slouched back and sighed heavily.

“Well,” Chris awkwardly muttered, shifting off the couch, “it’s getting late, and with all this bad weather, I should probably go-“

I’m not quite sure why I did what I did, but I reached up and grabbed his wrist. “Stay?”

This weird emotion passed through his eyes, and with the slight tipsiness from the alcohol and the dim lighting in the living room, I couldn’t quite read him.

“I mean, just if you want-“

He shyly cleared his throat, interrupting the beginnings of my rambling. “Sure.”

“Do you want something to drink?” I quickly slipped off my champagne gold heels, and ran in my stockings to the kitchen.

“Drink?”

“Yeah, like tea… or alcohol?”

“Can you make tea while you’re drunk?” He watched as I retrieved the tea kettle and the leaves.

“Darling,” I sang while bringing the milk to a boil, “Forget making it when I’m tispy, I could whip anyone up a steaming hot cup of chai in my sleep.”

I poured out the tea into two mugs, almost sloshing it out with my uncontrolled movements.

He took a sip of the tea, “And it still tastes like how you normally make it.”

“Considering that I’ve been making this since I was twelve, I’d hope that I’ve perfected the subtle art of tea making.” I let out a haughty smile. “Gotta learn how to make the chai to impress everyone.”

“Well, it worked on me.”

“And we will never know whether it worked on Raj.” I downed the hot liquid, and rinsed out the mug with soap and water.

I walked back to the couch and fell back in exhaustion. “This evening has been so horrible.”

“It hasn’t been all that bad,” Chris retorted, “at least you realized what an asshole he was.”

“Now I’m going to have to hear my mother’s stupid lecture tomorrow morning,” I muttered darkly, “after she realizes that I let go of a pediatric neurosurgeon. I’m so sick of this shit.”

“When will it be over?”

“Not until I’m wedded and bedded with babies,” I responded. “She’s so thirsty for grandchildren, especially seeing how my cousin who is only three years older than me recently had her second baby.”

“Ma is the same with me,” Chris agreed. “Not to the extent of your mom, but trust her to drop ‘subtle’ hints about how Carly’s given her all her grandkids so far.”

We sat in silence for a minute and I leaned back, thinking about all the shenanigans that happened that evening. So I grabbed the liquor bottle I had kept under the table for emergency purposes.

“What are you doing?” Chris asked, completely shocked at the alcohol hidden around my apartment.

“This is my emergency stash of alcohol for when I just need to forget everything,” I added, taking a huge swing from the bottle.

“Well, you can’t indulge alone,” Chris said, taking the bottle from me and mimicking my actions.

“You know he kept talking about kids,” I reached again for the liquid luck. “Wonder what our kids would’ve been like.”

“They’d probably be super geniuses,” Chris mused, “performing fake operations when they’re seven or some shit like that. If we had kids they’d get the best of both worlds.”

My chest puffed with pride. “My analytical side and your creativity?”

“No,” he laughed. “my good looks and my brains!”

“You’re so full of yourself.” I shoved his arm. “All the brains will be coming from me. Our kids will be doing calculus in middle school, if I had my way.”

“No,” Chris obstinately resisted. “They’d be in Ma’s school as soon as they were old enough.”

“You would say that.”

‘How many kids would you want?”

“Not sure,” I chuckled. “Haven’t thought about it. Probably two or three.”

“We would definitely get a dog though, maybe even before the kids.” Chris suggested. “And me, the kids, and him would have so much fun together playing catch-“

“So I don’t figure into the equation, then.”

“No, that’s not what I meant-“ He tried to defend himself, but I wasn’t going to let this one go.

“So I come after the children and the dog, then.” I nodded my head, in fake indignation.

He let out a laugh, and turned to me. Reaching over he held my face gently, he whispered, “You’ll always come before anything else.”

We had this… moment between us where I was just staring into the depths of his blue eyes that were earnestly staring back at me. And I couldn’t handle the way it seemed like he wanted the scenario all to be true.

“But before all that,” he murmured, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. “We’d have to make the kids first.”

Usually I’d stick my tongue out at his stupid teasing. Or give him a hard shove. But for some reason, I’m not quite sure what came over me, but the alcohol running through my system seemed to give me courage. The courage to do something that I’d later regret.

I swung one leg over him, straddling his lap. My little red dress rode up, exposing my stocking-clad lower body. “Something like this?”

“What are you-“

I cut him off with a bruising kiss, pouring all of my anger and lust from the alcohol into it. I pulled away to take a breath, feeling as if I ran a marathon in that moment.

“Are you sure-?”

“Yes, I need this,” I sighed, peppering light kisses on his jawline. “I want this so badly…”

He let out a low groan and his hands quickly grabbed onto my hips, pushing his crotch up. I immediately started grinding down, feeling the roughness of his slacks against my stockings. One of his hands made its way up to cradle the back of my head, pulling me into deep French kiss.

His other hand trailed down my body and started massaging my ass.

“You feel so good…”

Just as I felt his mouth sucking on my collarbone, sure to leave a hickey, with his hand brush across the apex of my thighs, we were plunged into darkness.

“What happened?” Chris exhaled as we quickly broke apart.

“I don’t know,” I muttered quietly. “Let me check the fuse box.”

I grabbed two flashlights for us along with some candles and placed it on the table with some matchboxes, and then I quickly checked in with my nocturnal land lady about what was going on.

“She said the power might have been knocked out with the snow that’s going on right now,” I informed him. “It’s gone out much too often with all the winter snow this year.”

We walked into my room together, and I saw all the candles lit. “I checked the rooms,” he began to say, shrugging on his coat in his hand. “I think your room is the warmest so I lit the candles in there.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is this a ploy to get me into bed?”

He moved behind me and gripped my hips. He leaned down, peppering kisses on the crook of my neck, to quietly murmur in my ear, “You know I wouldn’t have to try very hard to do that.”

“Well you’ll have to try much harder and much later,” I turned around and placed my hands on his chest, looking up at him. “I’m freezing right now so I’m going to go bundle up.”

Going into the adjacent bathroom, I washed off my makeup, popped off my contacts, and changed into my heaviest clothing. I even grabbed my wool scarves and wrapped it around my neck.

I came out into my bedroom. “As soon as I grab my gloves, I’ll be ready to go!”

“You look like an Eskimo.” I heard Chris break out into laughter from the bed, bundled up underneath the covers. “Or maybe more like a round marshmallow, since your coat is white.”

“Go away, you weirdo who never feels cold.” I turned away from him, sitting on the opposite side of the bed. “You can sleep on the couch for that.”

“But Naina,” Chris continued, with a smirk on his smug face, “don’t you know as a doctor, we have to share body heat. For survival sake.”

“Fine,” I relented, pulling back the covers. “For survival sake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff. 
> 
> Hope you all liked it! Please leave comments/feedback cause the less of them I see, the less I think people care! I also really want to know how the slightly smutty stuff worked for you guys! 
> 
> Naina's event outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/nainas_event_outfit/set?id=204221151  
> and here are the marriage resumes: http://42essays-com.pl/marriage-resume-for-muslim-girl1.jpg


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey peeps! I’m so sorry for being this erratic with updating, but I have the next chapter of SN with Naina and Chris- my inspiration for writing has been very on/off but I managed to finally get my shit together. 
> 
> Just a quick recap for the last chapter: Naina signs up for a matrimonial site at Amma’s behest and she has an obnoxious sexist date at the Christopher’s Haven charity event that goes terribly. Chris and her later go to her apartment and have some time alone together before they’re interrupted by a snowstorm.
> 
> Warning: The explicit warning is now gonna come into play guys ;)

Once again, in the matter of just two or three weeks, I was stuck in the corner, with a bottle of beer in one hand and a bowl of chips sitting in front of me. Too bad I couldn’t weasel my way out of this one. Not even to meet Shanna and Nat, who were attending a teaching conference in Seattle **  
**

Right after work, I was immediately dragged to the bar with some of the residents. The loud noises coming from my colleagues and the Super Bowl game echoed in my ears while I zoned out, thinking about all the pending work I had yet to complete at home.

I was about to send a quick text to Ananth when -

“Naina!” Lara squealed from behind me, making me jump about a foot in the air. “Come over and watch football with us!”

“I’ll be over in a minute,” I gulped, unsure of what was going to happen. “Just have to send a text first.”

“Don’t take too long,” she chastised me, walking back towards the big screen television. “Paul and I are waiting for you to come cheer for the Pats!”

I gave her a tight smile. “I’ll be there in a moment.”

Not wanting to seem like a complete idiot in front of my colleagues, I sent Ananth, one of the biggest football fans I know, a quick text to explain what was happening in the game. I then realized that he must have his eyes glued to the TV screen. He wasn’t about to take time to answer my questions about the game.

I walked to where all of my friends were congregated around the TV and made myself comfortable. I sat quietly in my seat, slightly confused about what the hell was going on in the game and I wasn’t about to embarrass myself by asking someone to explain the intricacies of America’s favorite sport.

Just then, my phone buzzed with a text notification. I swiped my screen to open a photo from Chris, looking like a complete frat boy. I could just picture how joyful and excited he’d get, being at the Superbowl and watching the game live.

In that picture, though, there was someone else I recognized. Letting out a small squeal, I quickly sent him a text, begging him to get me an autograph from Star Lord himself. I’d been obsessed with the movie ever since Ananth dragged me to see _Guardians of the Galaxy_.

**8:34 PM- Chris**

Wait, so you saw GOTG before Avengers? I feel so betrayed right now.

**8:41 PM- Naina**

Considering nobody dragged me out to see your movies, I didn’t bother *shrug*

**8:44 PM- Chris**

Without the success of Capt America, Star Lord wouldn’t even exist. So there.

I laughed, picturing exactly how that overgrown baby would be pouting at this very moment.

While I was trying to figure out a good comeback, I saw that Chris’ name pop up on the screen. I quickly accepted the call.

“Hey you. It feels like we haven’t talked in a while.” All of a sudden I realized how much I was missing him. “How’s the Super Bowl going?”

He immediately launched into convoluted and confusing explanation about the players and football, talking a mile a minute.

“- Brady’s killing it out there, his OT’s gotta stay strong though, or we’re never going to get through their backers, who is he even throwing to we don’t have a single open receiver in the in-zone and - OHMYGOD the Seahawks just intercepted it, that’s why the OT’s got to be there or we’ll never get on the board, I mean Brady just got sacked for crying out loud how could -”

“OK,” I interrupted him, rubbing my temples. “You just threw a bunch of words and names at me in a completely different language.”

“I thought Ananth likes football,” Chris asked, confused about how little I knew about the sport.

“He always talks about how you used to drive him to all the games.

“Going to the games doesn’t mean you understand all the semantics of playing.” I defended myself. “I went to cheer my brother, not make sense of the football jargon the white middle-aged suburban dads were throwing around.”

“So what do you know about football and the Super Bowl?”

“Basically big burly men run around in padding, trying to get the ball from one end to another.” I took a look at the game that was in full throttle. “The name of the sport itself is a misnomer because soccer is supposed to be football. And there’s a halftime show with some overpaid and overhyped popstar. That’s about it, honestly.”

“It’s okay, we’re gonna get you up to speed in a moment -”

“Are you on the phone with Naina?”

I heard another voice echo through the speaker. “Hey babe, it’s Scott!”

“Scott,” I squealed, unable to control my excitement. “What’s up with you? I haven’t seen you in a month.”

“I’ve been stuck on the West Coast for a while,” he explained. “Auditioning, and all that good stuff.”

“Hopefully when I come to California for my conference in two weeks we’ll get to meet up.”

“Please!” He exclaimed eagerly, with a tinge of sass. “If you visit, Chris here might finally shut up about -”

“OK, OK,” I heard Chris’ muted voice cut our conversation. He apparently had grabbed the phone from his brother and continued as if there was no interruption. “So right now, we’re still in the first quarter of the game and…”

Even someone who’s not a football aficionado had to appreciate the sheer joy that the sport gave to thousands of people. “I could do without the constant breaks,” I moaned, wanting this ordeal to end as soon as possible. “A game that is actually sixty minutes long dragged over hours is just unfair to everyone.”

“You like cricket, don’t you?”

“Well, Dad and Ananth love it,” I chuckled, reminiscing over the times I’d be dragged to the park to play with them. “I just go along with it all since everyone in the family likes it.”

“Don’t those games last for like a whole day?” I could just hear the grin in his voice that made me want to smack his perfect looking face.

“At least cricket is a gentleman’s sport -”

At that moment, one of the players dropped the ball and fell to the floor, and immediately five players tacked him. I winced. “At now my point is proven.”

“They just want possession of the ball,” he defended. “Plus they’re wearing a lot of padding.”

“For a sport that is so similar to rugby, they wear so much more gear and that still doesn’t protect them enough from injuries like concussions,” I retorted. “I can’t even keep track of how many kids I’ve seen with football related injuries.”

We finally got to the halftime show where Katy Perry was performing. Chris hung up then, but promised to give me a call right after she finished her performance.

“How’d you like the halftime show?”

“Just as expected,” I responded half-heartedly. “The theatrics were amazing but the singing was strictly alright.”

I had to admit, there were some pretty cool moments during the game which meant Chris would start freaking out.

“OK,” Chris said animatedly, “Tom Brady just threw the ball to our receiver, who caught it -”

‘’- and,” I noted, uncertainty piercing through my voice, “that means… they got a touchdown?”

“You’re starting to get it,” he responded. “Soon you’ll be memorizing playbooks.”

“Don’t make me laugh. I pick the team I’m rooting for depending on which one is closest to where I’m physically at the moment.”

“Thank god,” he muttered, “that means you’re a Patriots fan.”

“Although I was considering rooting for the Seahawks since my cousin is from Seattle…”

“What?!” He huffed, probably having a mini-attack at my treachery. “You can’t root against the Patriots!”

“Don’t worry,” I smiled in response. “I made that mistake for one football game in college, and I have no intention of doing it again and getting murdered by Shanna.”

He let out a loud laugh. “She would do that.”

“Is that Tom Brady?” The man who threw the football finally took off his helmet. “He’s on the Patriot’s, right?”

“He’s a god incarnate,” Chris immediately started gushing. “I mean, he’s the best quarterback ever, married to the hottest supermodel ever, and he’s just perfect looking -”

“He’s kind of weird-looking,” I observed.

“I don’t think you quite understand how aghast I am at your words.”

I smiled mirthfully at how dumbfounded he was, but he was quickly distracted when the Patriots won.

“Hey Naina,” Chris cleared his throat. “About that night, I just wanted to…”

“Don’t worry about it.” I quickly interrupted, the beer and lack of sleep muddling my mind. “We both had fun- now go enjoy your team winning.” I heard Chris sigh deeply, making my heart ache.

"Chris?”

"Yeah?” He answered absently since I caught him right before he was going to hang up.

“I miss you” I admitted in a whisper.

“Me too.” Chris mirrored my confession, making me smile.

“Now, go enjoy your game you nerd.”

Neither Chris nor the entire city of Boston talked about anything but the Super Bowl win for the next few weeks.

* * *

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the feminine voice chirped from the intercom, startling me out of my fitful nap. “We’re beginning our descent into LAX, so please fasten your seatbelts -”

I tuned out her droning and downed my ginger-ale. After sitting for about five hours or so on this flight, I was more than ready to get off and get some rest.  It most certainly didn’t help that I had the overnight shift the previous night and left straight from the hospital to Logan Airport.

I somehow managed to gather my backpack and stumble out of the plane. I made my way to the to the baggage claim and lugged my suitcase off the conveyor belt when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Naina?”

I turned to see my… friend standing there, complete in his trademark sunglasses and baseball cap. “Chr -”

He quickly held a finger up to my lips, effectively shushing me. “There are a ton of paps here so we’ve gotta get out of here fast.” My heart started to beat ten times faster, not only from Chris’ actions but also the thought of being exposed to the world.

I grabbed my sunglasses out of my bag and pushed them onto my face as we quickly made our way out of the airport into the parking lot.

“Damn…” I whistled as we approached his Lexus. “So _this_ is your nice car?”

He laughed. “Are you suitably impressed now?”

We got into the car. “Leather seats! I’m more impressed after realizing how comfortable this is.”

“So what do you think of L.A?”

“’s OK,” I grumbled, taking off my light cardigan. “But damn, it’s hot here.”

Chris guffawed, “That’s coming from the person who hates Boston winters.”

“It’s fucking boiling in here,” I retorted, reaching forward and adjusting the AC vent towards me.

“It’s one thing to like warm weather but it’s another thing to be baking in the sun.”

“Putting that aside,” Chris continued, “I cannot believe you thought I’d let you come to L.A. and stay in a hotel. It’s decided, you’re going to stay at my place.”

“I would’ve gotten away with it if Shanna hadn’t ratted me out.” It’s not that I didn’t want to stay with Chris, don’t get me wrong, but after the incident in my apartment I had no idea where our relationship was. And I was in absolutely no hurry to bring it up, and hopefully neither was Chris.

“Good thing she did.” he said as we passed some of the main parts of the city. “Otherwise you’d be holed up in your hotel room, leaving only for the conference.”

I’d have leave the room to visit my uncle who lives in the suburbs.” I quickly reclined my seat as the warmth and the long drive slowly lulled me to sleep. Apparently it was so comfortable that the next thing I remember was being lightly shaken awake by Chris.

“Naina,” he whispered. “We’re home, go ahead, I’ll get your luggage out of the trunk.”

I yawned as I got out, quickly stretching my arms. I was so awestruck by his humongous home that could have housed ten families.  

“Holy shit…” I muttered under my breath, shrugging my knapsack onto my back. “It looks straight out of Architectural Digest.”

Chris walked up to the front door and unlocked it. We walked in together I was completely floored. “I need the number of your interior designer. This is just gorgeous.”

He barked out a laugh. “This is the kitchen, the living room…” He gave me a quick tour of the ground floor as we walked to the staircase that led to the second landing.

“This is where you’ll be staying,” he said, opening the door to a large guest bedroom. Letting out a loud squeal, I ran to the bed and immediately collapsed onto the mattress with a loud sigh.

“You’re such a child, Naina.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” I retorted, staring up at the wooden ceiling fan. “This is so comfortable. Come here!”

“No - ”

But I wasn’t going to have that. I leaned up, reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him back towards me. He fell right next to me, and we both collapsed in a fit of giggles.

I turned to face him, laying on my side like one of those reclining nudes. “Not fair. This bed is more comfortable than the one in my apartment.”

“Well, it better be, considering how much I paid for it.”

“I missed this after you left for LA.” I admitted, grabbing a pillow to place under my arm. “Especially our long talks in my apartment where we didn’t do shit.”

“You have no idea how much I missed you too. Things were getting pretty boring here- thank goodness you decided to show up.” He sat up, and quickly patted my knee, his hand hovering slightly longer than necessary. “Anyway, wash up and come downstairs. I’m making dinner tonight.”

“Hmmmm,” I muttered while snuggling into the pillow. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

The time must have gotten away from me because it was dark outside when I groggily woke up. Realizing the time, I shot out of bed and threw on a pair of yoga shorts and a tank top, brushed my teeth and pulled my unruly curls into a loose ponytail. I stumbled down the steps and into the kitchen.

“I’m so sorry Chris,” I stammered, feeling a flush in my face, “I just dozed off - ”

He chuckled, his back facing me, “Don’t worry sweetheart, the macaroni just finished.” I walked around him to grab the tray out of the oven. “I added the jalapeños that you like so much.”

“Oh my god - ” I snorted, looking at the apron draped around his exceptionally small waist. “Is that… a Captain America apron?” I couldn’t hold back my laughter. “I’m tearing up, this is hilarious!”

“What?” Chris said indignantly. “It was a gift from Scott.“

“Bless him for that gift.” I grabbed the silverware and plates from the drying rack for both of us. “I’m starving, shall we eat?”

* * *

The next morning, with all the jetlag, I woke up at the crack of dawn. I splashed some water on my face and brushed my teeth. Grabbing my sneakers, I went for a run, needing to get some fresh air and to forget that I was staying literally down the hall from Chris.

My feet pounded against the pavement, feeling like dead weights. My lungs were on fire and my heart hammered out of my chest. All the while, the music thumped in my ears, trying to distract me from my unresolved situation with Chris. The romantic girl in me was jumping with joy, but the pragmatic bitch was sure that everything would go wrong, living in such close proximity with the man whom I had feelings for.

I stopped after a couple rounds around the neighborhood. Panting, I stumbled into the quiet house with the spare key he’d left for me.

Of course he was still sleeping. Ever since I visited the Evans house early in the morning, I’d given up all hope of seeing Chris’ face before nine.

I rummaged around the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, quickly polished it off and ran to the bathroom down the hall to shower. Humming quietly to myself, I grabbed my body wash from my toiletries bag, opened it to shake out some gel and scrubbed my body clean.

Don’t think about how Chris is sleeping right next door. _Don’t do it_.

Once I finished, I got out of the shower  and toweled off my body and hair. I didn’t bring my bathrobe since I packed pretty light, and hoped the quick run I would make to my room in my towel would be successful.

I opened the door, and tiptoed across the hallway, right in front of Chris’ bedroom door when -

“Hi.”

I turned to see him, leaning against the wall, shirtless and clad only in plaid pajama pants.  

“Hi,” I stammered, wrapping my towel more securely around my body. “You’re up early.”

“It’s an unusual occurrence, yes,” he explained. “Needed a ton of alarms, too.”

I furrowed my brow. “And why is that?”

“Because…” He walked up closer to me, backing me into a literal and figurative corner, and placed his muscular arms on either side of me. “I thought maybe I could catch you walking from the bathroom to the bedroom. You look beautiful, by the way.”

“Oh.” I looked deep into those baby blue eyes, while his nose skimmed my damp curls. “Thanks.”

“And you smell so good too,” he inhaled deeply as his fingers skimmed down my arm and entwined with mine. “That jasmine scent just kills me.”

Blushing, I held back an obscene moan as he peppered soft kisses down my jawline. “I should go now.”

“Feeling shy?” He murmured, softly nipping at my neck, igniting lustful feelings in me. “I recall we did this a while back in your apartment-”

Just then, his phone rang, making us jump apart. He groaned, fishing his phone out of his pocket, and turned away from me. Ducking under his arm, I immediately bolted into my room, still trying to process everything.

_Thank all the deities or who knows what would’ve happened._

After I managed to calm myself down, I put on some clothes and  slowly made my way downstairs, unsure of what  was about to happen next. I inched into the kitchen expecting Chris to be standing there, sipping the coffee that I brewed before my shower. Instead I found a sticky note on the fridge saying that he’ll be back later that evening since Megan, his agent, had called him in for some meetings.

Oh, and that he had the full intention of continuing what he had started. How was I going to survive living under the same roof with this man?

* * *

“So, that’s it I suppose.” I flipped through the last remaining pages of the file. “All the data’s been collated -”

“And I e-mailed you the graphs,” John replied on the other end of the line. “So just insert them in the Powerpoint and look over the notes we drew up, and you should be good for the presentation tomorrow.”

“Thanks again.”

Finally, after an entire evening of prepping, I closed my laptop and took a deep breath. _Time for bed._

After my night time routine, I got under the covers. I needed to get some sleep before the big day. The day when I presented the research regarding obesity and cardiovascular disease in adolescents that our team compiled at MassGen. If I wanted to get a prestigious fellowship in adolescent medicine, it had to be perfect.

_So no pressure._

I turned onto my side and hugged an extra pillow to my chest, willing myself to relax.  I hadn’t seen Chris since that morning. He invited me to go out with his friends after his work meetings were over but after much coaxing and seeing me stress over my work, he finally agreed to go without me. His absence allowed me to complete my presentation in peace until I was ready to collapse.

Chris had been very sweet, and kind enough to let me stay with him during my stay in L.A. My siblings and parents were blissfully ignorant about the fact that I was living in sin with a white man while they tried to hook me up with every young Indian professional in Massachusetts.

Turning once again  and sighed. It was comfortable downstairs, so how the hell was it so hot on the top floor? You’d think that there would be a solid AC system in this mansion. I kicked the covers off and got up to look at the thermostat. _Definitely not too hot_.

I flopped back onto the bed, pushing the covers to the side. I punched the pillow after I flipped it over and turned to my back, arms and legs splayed out next to me.  I scrubbed a hand over my face, dragged one down my stomach and stopped at my hip.  My fingers lightly traced over the elastic of my panties and I sighed.

 _It was the best way to relax, wasn’t it?_ Plus, I needed to be well rested to talk to a room of professionals in pediatrics.

I let my finger slip underneath and brush over my smooth mound. I slipped a finger between my folds and inhaled a sharp breath of pleasure. My desire was just rising and my skin started to heat up. A shiver run through my body, the same that I felt that morning when Chris kissed me.

 _Chris._ My thoughts invariably traveled to him. His perfectly carved out face and body not to mention those chiseled ab muscles from doing all those superhero movies. As if my hand like on autopilot, I snuck a second finger in to join the first and rolled the small nub. I pictured him touching me as I was touching myself. His strong but soft hands on me, his lips crashing on mine like it did earlier. I could feel his skin against mine, I could almost  _smell_ his masculine scent. It was almost too much to handle, at least too much to contain a moan.

Getting caught up in the moment, I closed my eyes. “Chris,” I moaned quietly. “Oh god…”

“You want a hand?”

I opened my eyes in shock and saw Chris leaning against the door, eyes clouded with lust, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Oh my god! Don’t you knock before coming in?!” I screamed, mortified as he made his way towards the bed. Just as I started covering myself, he grabbed one of my hands stopping my motion and hovered over me.

“You forgot to shut the door.”

“I did…? ” I trailed off and cleared my throat.  “I um, thought you were out?”

“I was.” He brought one knee up next to me.  “But this looks like more fun.”  He used his free hand to push some unruly curls off my forehead before slowly pressing his lips to mine.

I pulled away, hesitating for a moment. ‘Chris, this-”

“I heard you say my name, Naina.” He interrupted me, murmuring softly and brushing his lips against mine.  “Don’t deny this. You want this as much as I do.”

Fuck it. Letting go of all my inhibitions, I arched into his kiss. He licked over my bottom lip and I opened my mouth, letting his tongue skim over mine.  He put his hands on either side of my head and shifted over me on the bed.  He bit my bottom lip before nipping over my chin and jaw, trailing kisses over my neck and down my body.

“Chris,” I whispered as I ran my hands over his back, his skin feeling soft and his muscles feeling firm and warm underneath my fingers. “Chris, please…”

“What, Naina?  You want me to pick up where you left off?”  He skimmed a hand along my side and cupped one breast, squeezed it gently over the lacy camisole I was wearing.

Panting as my breath hitched, I nodded wordlessly, biting my lip.

“Say it, Naina,” he murmured, moving his hand to caress my cheek. I hooked one leg around his waist and moved the other one out of the way, for him to settle between them.

“Please Chris,” I whined,  “Touch me.”

He ran his hand under my camisole and brushed over my nipple with his finger, making me gasp.  He pushed it up and attached his mouth to the other breast and laved his tongue over the nipple while gently pinching the other. He switched sides and dragged his free hand down my belly before slipping two fingers under the elastic of my panties.  He gently pressed one finger over my clit, rubbed it softly before he took his mouth off my breast.

“Is this okay?”  He looked up and kissed me softly.

I nodded wordlessly, losing myself in the ecstasy. He peppered open-mouthed kisses on my burning skin as he moved down my torso, never looking away from me while he hooked his fingers on either side of my panties.  I held my breath as he slid them down as I lifted my hips to help him take them off.  He settled on his stomach and ran one hand up my calf.

“Just relax, baby.” He purred, soothing me. “Let me do this right.”

He kissed gently along my thigh, moved up so his nose was directly against me.  He looked up at me before he hooked one leg over his shoulder and licked one broad stripe up my pussy. My breath hitched and I reached out to grab his hair.

“Oh my god, Chris,” I gasped, lacing my fingers in the covers. “Don’t stop.”

He did it again and pressed the tip of his tongue against my clit, circling the tiny nub.  It felt incredible.

“Like that, Chris,” I moaned obscenely.  He kept the pressure consistent, changed to lick up and down before inserting one finger into me.  I nearly bucked off the bed, crying out in surprise and pleasure.

“Chris, please,” I started to beg.  I threaded my fingers through his hair, and he opened his eyes to look at me.  I almost laughed when he winked at me.

“Come on, Naina.  Come for me,” he urged when he added another finger inside me.  He curled them right before reattaching his mouth on me and that was all it took to send me over the edge.  My back bowed off the mattress as the orgasm tore through me.  He kept his mouth on me, helping me ride out my orgasm and pressed soft kisses on the inside of my thighs I came down from my high.  I had no idea how much time had passed before he came up to kiss me softly, bringing me to lay on his chest so I could settle against him.

“That was… wow.  Just, thank you…” I stammered as he tucked some curls behind my ear.

“You’re welcome,” he said softly, trailed his fingers along my shoulder.

“What about you?” I raised my eyes to his. “You didn’t…”

“Don’t worry about me, you need to get some sleep.”  He turned me gently to my side and I felt him pull me back to rest against him.

“Why’d you come home?” I asked. “I thought you would be out late with your friends.”

“I did.  But I wanted to check on you and make sure weren’t working throughout the night. Guess I got here at the right time,” he joked.

I laughed softly. “Lucky me.”

* * *

I woke up very comfortable, nestled against Chris’ muscular chest when suddenly, realization hit. Shit. What the fuck had I done? Damn it, the lust had clouded my brain and I jumped into bed with the last man I could have a relationship with.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t even dwell on that because I had less than an hour to get ready for my presentation. Brushing his hair back and dropping a peck on his cheek, I quietly removed myself from his arms and ran towards the bathroom to get ready. I came back and tip-toed across my bedroom, not wanting to wake Chris up.

I grabbed my work bag and sat down in the extra car Chris let me borrow for the duration of my stay, making a quick stop at Starbucks to grab a chai latte before heading to the conference center. The rest of the day ticked by slowly forcing me to do the two things I hated the most: socializing and public speaking.

“Thank god this is over,” I muttered as the speaker announced the end the first day of the conference. But I couldn’t even go home and collapse on my bed - one, because that meant talking to Chris about what happened, and two, because I had to go meet my mother’s younger brother, who had lived on the West Coast ever since he came to the States.

After driving for about an hour to the suburbs, I arrived at Uncle Aditya’s house. I parked my car and made my way to the front steps and rang the doorbell, with a small gift I purchased on my way over in my hand.

“Naina?”

“Hi, Uncle Adi!” I immediately hugged him, overcome with emotion.

He rolled his eyes. “You’ll never stop with that nickname, will you?”

“Never. It’s been, what, a seven years?”

“Five years, I think,” he responded, ushering me into the house. “How’ve you been? Last time I saw you on your college graduation.”

“That was forever ago,” I responded, tentatively walking into living room. “How’s everything going?”

Before he could respond, I heard someone coming downstairs. “Aditya, have you seen Amrita’s bottle?” An elegant blonde, dressed in a blouse and slacks, appeared at the foot of the staircase holding a small tawny-skinned baby girl.

“It should be in the kitchen.”

“Hi,” I introduced myself softly. “I’m Naina.”

“She’s Smitha Akka’s eldest daughter,” My Uncle explained quickly. “Naina, this is my wife Angela and my daughter Amy - ”

“Amrita.” Angela muttered darkly, correcting her husband. “Not Amy. I refuse to let you shorten such a beautiful name.”

“Congratulations Uncle- I have such a cutie baby cousin.” I cooed softly, not wanting to disturb the child.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” my aunt squealed as she quickly hugged me, handing her daughter to my uncle. “I’ve heard so much about you and your family from Adi even though we haven’t met in person.”

I tentatively returned her hug. “It’s so nice to meet the both of you as well.”

“If my husband had informed me that you were dropping by today, I would’ve cancelled Amrita’s doctor’s appointment this evening.” She gave a disapproving look to her husband. “But if you’re in L.A. for the weekend, we’d love to have you over for dinner!”

“I’m here for about two weeks,” I informed her quickly. “Thank you so much, that would be lovely!”

“That’s settled then! I’m sorry, I have to rush, we’re running late.” Angela said, cradling her daughter in her arms. “Say bye to Naina, Amrita! You’ll see your cousin again in a couple of days!”

Once Angela and Amy both left, Uncle Adi turned to me. “You’ll have chai, right?”

“I’ll make it,” I quickly offered reflexively.

“Nonsense,” he retorted making his way to the kitchen. “You’re just like your mother, never letting men do any work around the kitchen. Living with Angela for so long has made me a world class chef of Indian food and chai.”

He grabbed the water, milk, and tea leaves. “So how’ve you been? You’re working now?”

“Yeah, I’m a pediatrics resident over at MassGen in Boston,” I said following him, fidgeting with the hem of my blouse. “I’m in L.A. for a conference and to hopefully get some contacts for fellowship later.”

“So you finally did become a doctor,” he mused, bringing the water and milk to a boil. “I always thought you’d do something with dance. You had such a passion for it.” He clicked his tongue. “What a shame. “

“I still do it from time to time,” I defended myself and my parents. “I can’t tell if you’re happy or sad about this.”

“Why would my happiness about what your profession is matter, Naina? He sprinkled some tea leaves into the simmering pot. “As long as you’re happy. That’s all I want.”

“I wasn’t aware about your marriage.” I pouted, seating myself on the high chair at the counter. “You didn’t invite us to your wedding.”

“You were invited,” he chuckled, straining the tea leaves out of the liquid. “Your mother may not have wanted to come, but you all were invited.”

“Was Amma angry about Angela?” I asked, unsure of all the family drama that may have occurred when my uncle decided to move across the country away from our family.

“Funny enough, Smitha Akka is angrier about my life than our own mother,” he said, handing me a cup of tea.

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to understand what happened between my mother and my estranged uncle. “Suddenly you just disappeared out of our life and Amma wouldn’t say anything about it.”  

“That wasn’t intentional, sweetheart,” he said, trying to sooth me. “And it wasn’t your fault either. She was upset when I moved to the West Coast to pursue my architecture degree instead of engineering and it was the last straw when I decided to marry Angela instead of any of the girls she picked out.”

“That sounds like my life now,” I muttered under my breath. “With Chris.”

“Chris…” He speculated, probably putting all the puzzle pieces together in his head.  “Is this about an American fellow? I was in your place once with Angela.” He said, reminiscing. “We met in school, both architecture students. When your grandma and Smitha Akka came to visit me, I invited her to dinner.”

“What happened?”

“I still remember what they said like it was yesterday.” He uncannily imitated her demeanor and hand gestures. “Adi, you can be friends with her for however long you want to. But don’t even think about making her our daughter-in-law.”

“So how are both of them now?”

“I can’t speak for your mother, but your grandma is slowly warming up to Angela after seeing her granddaughter for the first time. Time heals all those wounds.”

And as he kept going on his new life with his wife and daughter, full of love and joy, I surprised myself picturing a similar life with Chris. Our mornings in the kitchen, him feeding our little baby girl. If the gods were good, she’d have his beautiful blue eyes but she’d most likely end up with my boring brown ones.

He put down his cup of tea and turned to me, pulling me out of my meandering thoughts. “Just remember Naina, those who truly love you never really leave you.”

“But Amma won’t listen.” I explained, trying to make him understand. “She’s been pushing all these prospective grooms at me. I don’t know how she’d react if I brought home Chris in a _dhoti_ to be welcomed into our family as the eldest son-in-law.”

“I know my sister.” He said, chuckling at the idea of a white guy in traditional South Indian clothing. “She’ll be upset for a little bit but she loves you too much to cut off all ties.”

“So you agree she will be mad.”

“Naina, honey, you’ve just gotta be willing to fight for your love.” He said, picking up a photo frame with the three of them. “It’s harder for you than most but if you both like each other enough, then it’ll be worth it in the end.”

I checked my watch. “It’s late and I have to be up early tomorrow for the conference, I should get going. Thanks for having me over Uncle Adi.”

He waved me off with a quick hug. “Think about what I told you and we’ll see you over the weekend.”

I got in the car and drove back home while every channel on the radio played emotional, romantic songs.

Well, I suppose I could go through the pros and cons of it all. If I said no to this, I’d be the perfect daughter with the picture perfect family - giving my parents the fully Indian son-in-law and grandchildren they’ve always wanted to pass on their culture, traditions, and values.

 _But if I said yes?_ Turns out there is a semblance of a future for Chris and me. If Uncle Adi can find happiness with Angela, someone the complete opposite of who my family wanted him to marry, then why couldn’t I do the same? And if my grandmother forgave him then Amma, her daughter, could hopefully accept our dating.

Hopefully we wouldn’t have to elope and quickly have a child for my parents to accept our relationship.

I finally reached home after a car-ride full of intense soul searching. I pulled up into the driveway and locked the car, trudging back inside since I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. I had finally made up my mind and took a decision. And I was ready to face the consequences of it.

“Naina?” Chris called out to me from the kitchen. “You’re back? We need to talk about last -”

I walked upto him standing by the stove and hugged him from behind, wrapping my hands around his waist. “I’m willing to to try this.”  I admitted, my voice slightly shaking. “I’m ready to jump in the river with you. Everything else be damned.”

He turned around, and shifted his arms around me. “Really?” He voice crackled with happiness and astonishment. “You’re not drunk, right?”

I shook my head. “As if I’ll get tipsy at my uncle’s house -”

He cut me off with a deep kiss making my head spin. He pulled away, softly brushing my cheek.

“Finally.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY INDEED
> 
> Copyright © 2016 evansscruff. All rights reserved. Intellectual property of evansscruff.
> 
> A/N: Hope you liked it! Let me know how the chapter was- especially the smutty stuff! I’d love to hear your thoughts- they keep me going with this story!


End file.
